ON THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF 3D PRINTED PARTS WITH FDM BY A LOW-BUDGET COMMERCIAL PRINTER

Ioannis T Christodoulou,Angelos P Markopoulos,Emmanouil L Papazoglou,Nikolaos E Karkalos,Vasiliki E Alexopoulou

doi:10.20998/2078-7405.2022.96.06

Ioannis T Christodoulou, Angelos P Markopoulos + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.20998/2078-7405.2022.96.06

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Abstract

As additive manufacturing machines price is decreasing, while, at the same time, the expertise in the relevant field is rising, it is essential to test and evaluate the low-budget machines that are available for commercial use. Whilst low-budget machines are widely utilized for rapid prototyping and experimentation, they are not capable of producing parts with high surface quality and achieve high levels of repeatability due to low quality hardware and not optimized software. Having said that, the main aim of the current study is to experiment with a low budget Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D-Printer, and evaluate the surface roughness of the printed parts in respect to the angle from the print plate. Polylactic Acid (PLA) was chosen as filament material, while the printed parts surface roughness was measured according to the ISO ASTM 52902-2021 standard. The surface roughness was estimated in terms of the Ra and Rz values, while a statistical analysis was implemented in order some interesting conclusions to be deduced regarding the correlation between part orientation and surface quality.

Highlights

Over the last decades, Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes have become a hot topic for both the researching and the industrial world, as they can give highly customized and geometrically complex products
In Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), a thermoplastic filament, which is stored in a reservoir, is heated up to the melting temperature and it is extruded through a nozzle tip on the 3d-printing bed [2]
The results showed that conical nozzles, high pressures and large nozzle-to-platform gap generally reduce the surface roughness

Summary

Introduction

Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes have become a hot topic for both the researching and the industrial world, as they can give highly customized and geometrically complex products. In AM, a 3D-CAD model is virtually broken down into 2D-cross sections and the final product is built by consecutive layers [1]. Many AM techniques have been developed, such as vat polymerization (SLA), powder bed fusion (SLS, SLM) and material extrusion (FDM). In Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), a thermoplastic filament (such as PLA, ABS, PEEK, etc.), which is stored in a reservoir, is heated up to the melting temperature and it is extruded through a nozzle tip on the 3d-printing bed [2]. Several parameters affect the characteristics and the quality of the building part. Some of them are the build orientation, the layer height, the raster angle, the air gap, the printing speed, the infill density, the infill pattern, the extrusion temperature and the nozzle diameter [3]

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