Fusion deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing parameters correlation: An analysis of different polymers surface roughness

Abstract

One of the most popular methods for manufacturing new products is FDM (Fusion Deposition Modeling). In which two segments are established: industrial and desktop. The latter group has had notable growth in recent years. One of the disadvantages found in this method is its surface finish, which presents a remarkable roughness. In this research work, the correlation that exists in the printing configuration’ parameters and the resulting roughness analyzed by means of the ISO 4287-1997 standard will be analyzed. The configuration parameters to take into account are: layer height, printing speed. The materials to be analyzed are: PLA, PET-G, ASA, Wood Filament, TPU. Besides, the equipment used is a Prusa brand desktop printer with the manufacturer’s software. What is more, the acceleration, extruder temperature and bed recommended in the software are used for each material. Hence, the constant printing characteristics are: perimeter thickness, 10% infill, extrusion diameter 0.4 mm. The objects to be evaluated are printed and the roughness on the walls of the Z axis, base plane and upper plane is measured. This analysis was carried out by means of the correlation by the use of the analysis of variance ANOVA. The printing speed does not affect the resulting surface roughness in any plane, while the layer height only shows a significant correlation ( < 0.05) with the roughness of the lateral plane of the samples.