Effect of process parameters on surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and flatness of VeroBlue RGD840 rigid opaque materials

Abstract

Abstract In the present scenario, additive manufacturing is considered to produce the functional parts in low volume. This investigation deals with the effect of process parameters viz., raster angle, orientation and type of surface on dimensional accuracy, flatness, shrinkage and surface roughness of VeroBlue RGD840 rigid opaque materials, produced by the polyjet process. A Taguchi array (L 8) is used to design the experiment. Surface roughness parameters are measured by using an optical profilometer. Dimensional accuracy and flatness are measured by using coordinate measuring machines. Analysis of variance is employed to evaluate the effect of individual process parameters. An empirical model is developed to predict the dimensional accuracy, flatness and surface roughness. Results revealed that the optimum level of process parameters are different for the dimensional accuracy and flatness. A multi-objective optimization technique is employed to get the best level of process parameters. The belt level of process parameters are raster angle of 60°, orientation flat and glossy type of surface finish. The best value of surface roughness R a = 28 nm, percentage error in dimensional accuracy of 12.13 and flatness of 0.0503 mm are observed. Confirmation tests are performed at the best level of process parameters to verify the results.