Abstract
Additive manufacturing processes have evolved considerably in the past years, growing into a wide range of products through the use of different materials depending on its application sectors. Nevertheless, the fused deposition modelling (FDM) technique has proven to be an economically feasible process turning additive manufacture technologies from consumer production into a mainstream manufacturing technique. Current advances in the finite element method (FEM) and the computer-aided engineering (CAE) technology are unable to study three-dimensional (3D) printed models, since the final result is highly dependent on processing and environment parameters. Because of that, an in-depth understanding of the printed geometrical mesostructure is needed to extend FEM applications. This study aims to generate a homogeneous structural element that accurately represents the behavior of FDM-processed materials, by means of a representative volume element (RVE). The homogenization summarizes the main mechanical characteristics of the actual 3D printed structure, opening new analysis and optimization procedures. Moreover, the linear RVE results can be used to further analyze the in-deep behavior of the FDM unit cell. Therefore, industries could perform a feasible engineering analysis of the final printed elements, allowing the FDM technology to become a mainstream, low-cost manufacturing process in the near future.
Highlights
The process of three-dimensional (3D) printing, known as additive manufacturing (AM) has achieved an unexpected evolution
The representative volume element (RVE) model is not fixed in its dimensions, but every time the material or printing parameters are changed based on the image analysis
The analysis carried out involved the construction of a linear RVE model in order to predict the macroscopic behavior of 3D printed geometries
Summary
The process of three-dimensional (3D) printing, known as additive manufacturing (AM) has achieved an unexpected evolution. Many AM technologies for polymers offer high levels of material and aesthetics quality such as stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), digital light processing (DLP), and ink-deposition technologies including the Polyjet These methodologies may result expensive due to the uniqueness of each process, materials availability, and the need of a more expensive, specialized equipment [6]. Thanks to the RVE model, it is possible to use macroelements that summarize the mesoscopic properties of the component and allow complex components to be studied with relative ease
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