Numerical simulation of temperature field and stress field in fused deposition modeling

Abstract

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a rapid prototyping technology developed quickly in recent years. However, the precision of forming part is a key factor to limit the development of fused deposition modeling. This paper established numerical model of temperature filed and stress filed for the forming process of fused deposition modeling by finite element modeling method and “birth-death element” technique. From the analysis of temperature gradient cloud picture, the result indicates that the temperature distributions are uneven along both X and Y directions, but the temperature distribution is uniform along Z direction. From the analysis of stress field for forming parts, the result can be found that deformation is focused on the plane XOY and no obvious stress concentration is observed on the plane XOZ and YOZ. Based on the comparison of temperature fields for four different scanning filling paths (honeycomb, grid, wiggle, rectilinear), the results show that the smallest temperature gradient is found for honeycomb scanning filling path. Based on the comparison of stress fields for four different scanning filling paths, the results show that the most uniform stress distribution and the smallest deformation is honeycomb scanning filling path which can provide guiding significance for actual processing.