Research of Layer Thickness and Selected Thermoplastic Materials and their Influence on the Surface Roughness in the Process of Fused Deposition Modeling Technology

Abstract

This paper focuses on the influence of layer thickness and five selected thermoplastic materials on the surface roughness of cuboidal sample in the process of manufacturing by Fused Deposition Modelling technology. The component, in this case, is a cuboidal specimen with the dimensions 15 mm by 15 mm by 30 mm. FDM or LPD/FFF is additive layer-based method of additive manufacturing, usually used for rapid prototyping of the prototypes and other fabricating applications which use thermoplastics materials. A geometric model is defined that takes into account the shape of the fibers of the material after application to define the theoretical roughness profile. The authors set four different layer thicknesses of the cuboid part: 0.29 mm, 0.19mm, 0.14 mm and 0.09 mm. In this experiment, authors also used five different thermoplastic filaments: ABS, ASA, HIPS, PCABS and PLA. The authors produced a total of 20 prints and the surface of each sample was measured three times in succession using a portable surface roughness tester Mitutoyo. SJ-210. The 3D printer used in the experiment was Zortrax M200. The surface roughness .in this paper is shown in .the .form of a scatter and bar graph.