Commercial Fused Deposition Modelling Setup Research Articles

Investigations for tensile, compressive and morphological properties of 3D printed functional prototypes of PLA-PEKK-HAp-CS

This article reports the experimental investigations for tensile, compressive and morphological properties of 3D printed functional prototypes composed of polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced with poly ether ketone ketone (PEKK), hydroxyapatite (HAp) and chitosan (CS). The PLA-PEKK-HAp-CS composite has wide applications as scaffolds in orthopaedics and clinical dentistry. The tensile and compressive specimens were printed (as per ASTM D638 type IV and ASTM D695) with in-house prepared feedstock filament on commercial fused deposition modelling setup by following Taguchi-based design of experiment. The results are also supported by hardness data and photomicrographs.

Investigations on joining of orthopaedic scaffold with rapid tooling.

Poly lactic acid reinforced with hydroxyapatite and chitosan is one of the commonly used thermoplastic composite materials in three-dimensional printing of orthopaedic scaffolds. This article is an extension of work reported on hydroxyapatite- and chitosan-reinforced, poly lactic acid-based biocompatible feedstock filament for three-dimensional printing of functional prototypes on low cost commercial fused deposition modelling setup. In this work, joining of orthopaedic scaffolds has been performed with rapid tooling by using friction stir welding process. Finally, the mechanical properties (such as tensile strength and hardness) of the orthopaedic scaffolds joints were studied with support of the photomicrographs and thermal images. The results of study suggest that best settings for joining of micro cracks in orthopaedic scaffolds of poly lactic acid-hydroxyapatite-chitosan are rotational speed of 1000 r/min with length of consumable tool as 4 mm and staring time as 40 s.

Investigations for In-house prepared Biocompatible Feed Stock Filament of Fused Deposition Modelling: A Process Capability study

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the low cost additive manufacturing (AM) process. The feed stock filament of FDM is the only consumable in the process and by preparing (in-house) bio compatible feed stock filament the application domain can be increased. Some studies have reported the use of twin screw extrusion (TSE) process for preparation of bio compatible feed stock filament (comprising of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) particles) with improved mechanical, dimensional and thermal properties, for commercial FDM setup. But hitherto very less has been reported on process capability of in-house prepared biocompatible feed stock filament. In the present work statistical analysis (for tensile strength, hardness and dimensional accuracy) has been performed for investigations of process capability. The results have been also supported by control charts (X-chart and R-chart) based upon the best feedstock filament wire.

Effect of hybrid reinforcement of SiC and Al2O3 in Nylon-6 matrix on mechanical properties of feed stock filament for FDM

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) process is used extensively for modelling and prototyping applications. But under dynamic loading conditions the FDM based prototypes usually fails due to limited material properties. Further selective material availability in market for commercial FDM setup is another big problem. Some researchers have highlighted the use of reinforced composite wires as FDM filament to improve the mechanical properties. But hitherto no work has been reported on the effect of hybrid reinforcement of SiC and Al2O3 in Nylon-6 matrix to be used as feed stock filament for FDM. In this paper, effect of hybrid reinforcement in Nylon-6 matrix on mechanical properties (like: percentage elongation, yield strength, Young’s modulus) has been studied. Further, mathematical relations have been developed and verified for these mechanical properties.

On the wear properties of Nylon6-SiC-Al 2 O 3 based fused deposition modelling feed stock filament

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the commonly used additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. In commercial FDM setup a plastic material based filament (usually of ABS) is unwound from a coil to produce functional/non-functional prototypes. The application domain of FDM is limited presently, because of selective material availability in commercial market as regards to the wear of functional prototypes is concerned. In order to enhance the application domain of commercial FDM setup, an effort has been made to develop new polymer composite (with hybrid reinforcement) wire of Nylon6-SiC-Al2O3 with enhanced wear resistant properties. In this research work experimental investigations has been carried out for optimizing wear properties of Nylon6-SiC-Al2O3 based feed stock filament of FDM. Further mathematical model for above mentioned property has been developed and counter verified as a case study.

Effect of single particle size, double particle size and triple particle size Al2O3 in Nylon-6 matrix on mechanical properties of feed stock filament for FDM

Fused Deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies used extensively for modelling and prototyping applications. In commercial FDM setup, filament wire is uncoiled from wire spools and plastic based material is supplied to produce the part. The application area of FDM is limited presently due to selective material availability in market. Some researchers have highlighted the use of reinforced composite wires as FDM filament. But hitherto no work has been reported on the effect of Single particle size (SPS), Dual particle size (DPS), Triple particle size (TPS) of Al2O3 (as reinforcement) in Nylon-6 matrix to be used as feed stock filament for FDM. In this paper, effect of SPS, DPS, and TPS of Al2O3 (as reinforcement) in Nylon-6 matrix on mechanical properties (like: percent age elongation, tensile strength, yield strength, Young's modulus) has been studied. Further, empirical relations have been developed for above mentioned properties and a surface characteristic of developed wires has been observed with SEM image.

Surface roughness improvement of cast components in vacuum moulding by intermediate barrel finishing of fused deposition modelling patterns

In this work, investigations have been made for surface roughness (Ra) improvement of vacuum moulding (VM) components by introducing barrel finishing (BF) on fused deposition modelling patterns at preliminary stage (i.e. before being used as master patterns). The Ra improvement will help to avoid/reduce post machining/finishing operations for green manufacturing. The VM master patterns were prepared using P-430 grade acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material on commercial fused deposition modelling setup. Further, Ra of VM master pattern prepared was improved by using BF process (as intermediate process). The controllable parameters of BF and VM process (namely, media weight, cycle time, vacuum pressure and grain size of refractory sand) were studied at three levels by using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array to explore their affects on Ra of the final cast components. The results of study suggest that media weight of BF and sand grain size of VM process contribute significantly for improving Ra.

Modelling the Peak Elongation of Nylon6 and Fe Powder Based Composite Wire for FDM Feedstock Filament

In the present work, to increase the application domain of fused deposition modelling (FDM) process, Nylon6–Fe powder based composite wire has been prepared as feed stock filament. Further for smooth functioning of feed stock filament without any change in the hardware and software of the commercial FDM setup, the mechanical properties of the newly prepared composite wire must be comparable/at par to the existing material i.e. ABS, P-430. So, keeping this in consideration; an effort has been made to model the peak elongation of in house developed feedstock filament comprising of Nylon6 and Fe powder (prepared on single screw extrusion process) for commercial FDM setup. The input parameters of single screw extruder (namely: barrel temperature, temperature of the die, speed of the screw, speed of the winding machine) and rheological property of material (melt flow index) has been modelled with peak elongation as the output by using response surface methodology. For validation of model the result of peak elongation obtained from the model equation the comparison was made with the results of actual experimentation which shows the variation of ±1 % only.

Development of rapid tooling using fused deposition modeling: a review

Purpose The purpose of this study is to highlight the direct fabrication of rapid tooling (RT) with desired mechanical, tribological and thermal properties using fused deposition modelling (FDM) process. Further, the review paper demonstrated development procedure of alternative feedstock filament of low-cost composite material for FDM to extend the range of RT applications. Design/methodology/approach The alternative materials for FDM and their processing requirements for fabrication in filament form as reported by various researchers have been summarized. The literature demonstrates the role of various post-processing techniques on surface finish of FDM prints. Further, low-cost materials for feedstock filament have been investigated experimentally to check their adaptability/suitability for commercial FDM setup. The approach was to realize the requirements of FDM (melt flow rate, flexibility, stiffness, glass transition temperature and mechanical strength), necessary for the successful run of an alternative filament. The effect of constituents (additives, plasticizers, surfactants and fillers) in polymeric matrix on mechanical, tribological and thermal properties has been investigated. Findings It is possible to develop composite material feedstock as filament for commercial FDM setup without changing its hardware and software. Surface finish of the parts can further be improved by applying various post-processing techniques. Most of the composite parts have high mechanical strength, hardness, thermal stability, wear resistant and better bond formation than standard material parts. Research limitations/implications Future research may be focused on improving the surface quality of parts fabricated with composite feedstock, solving issues related to the uniform distribution of filled materials during the fabrication of feedstock filament which in turns further increases mechanical strength, high dimensional stability of composite filament and transferring the technology from laboratory scale to various industrial applications. Practical implications Potential applications of direct fabrication with RT includes rapid manufacturing (RM) of metal-filled parts and ceramic-filled parts (which have complex shape and cannot be rapidly made by any other manufacturing techniques) in the field of biomedical and dentistry. Originality/value This new manufacturing methodology is based on the proper selection and processing of various materials and additives to form high-performance, low-cost composite material feedstock filament (which fulfil the necessary requirements of FDM process). Finally, newly developed feedstock filament material has both quantitative and qualitative advantage in RT and RM applications as compared to standard material filament.