Abstract
Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a fast growing rapid prototyping (RP) technology due to its ability to build functional parts having complex geometrical shapes in reasonable build time. The dimensional accuracy, surface roughness, mechanical strength and above all functionality of built parts are dependent on many process variables and their settings. In this study, five important process parameters such as layer thickness, orientation, raster angle, raster width and air gap have been considered to study their effects on three responses viz., tensile, flexural and impact strength of test specimen. Experiments have been conducted using central composite design (CCD) and empirical models relating each response and process parameters have been developed. The models are validated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Finally, bacterial foraging technique is used to suggest theoretical combination of parameter settings to achieve good strength simultaneously for all responses.
Highlights
Reduction of product development cycle time is a major concern in industries to remain competitive in the marketplace and focus has shifted from traditional product development methodology to rapid fabrication techniques like rapid prototyping (RP) [1,2,3,4,5]
The present study focus on assessment of mechanical properties viz. tensile, flexural and impact strength of part fabricated using fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology
Based on analysis of variance (ANOVA), full quadratic model is found to be suitable for tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength (Table 3) with regression p-value less than 0.05 and lack of fit more 0.05
Summary
Reduction of product development cycle time is a major concern in industries to remain competitive in the marketplace and focus has shifted from traditional product development methodology to rapid fabrication techniques like rapid prototyping (RP) [1,2,3,4,5]. RP is an efficient technology, full scale application has not gained much attention because of compatibility of presently available materials with RP technologies [6,7] To overcome this limitation, one approach may be development of new materials having superior characteristics than conventional materials and its compatibility with technology. One approach may be development of new materials having superior characteristics than conventional materials and its compatibility with technology Another convenient approach may be suitably adjusting the process parameters during fabrication stage so that properties may improve [8,9]. Since mechanical properties are important for functional parts, it is absolutely essential to study influence of various process parameters on mechanical properties so that improvement can be made through selection of best settings. Bacteria foraging is easier to implement because only few parameters need to be ad-
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