Abstract
PurposeFused filament fabrication or fused deposition modeling (FFF/FDM) has as one of its main restrictions the surface quality intrinsic to the process, especially linked to the layer thickness used during manufacture. The purpose of this paper is to study the possibility of improving the surface quality of polylactic acid (PLA) parts manufactured by FFF using the shot blasting technique.Design/methodology/approachThe influence of corundum blasting on 0.2 mm layer thickness FDM PLA parts treated with two sizes of abrasive, different exposure times and different incidence pressures.FindingsAs a result, improvements of almost 80% were obtained in the surface roughness of the pieces with high exposure times, and more than 50% in just 20 s.Originality/valueThis technique is cheap, versatile and adaptable to different part sizes and geometries. Furthermore, it is a fast and environmentally friendly technique compared to conventional machining or vapor smoothing. Despite this, no previous studies have been carried out to improve the quality of this technology.
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