Surface enhancement approach for FDM rapid prototypes by organically modified montmorillonite nanoparticles

摘要

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the widely used rapid prototyping techniques for fabricating complex shaped objects from CAD data. Minimum wastage of material, simple manufacturing process and economical desktop like machine have made the technique a major contender in the field of manufacturing. However, due to layered manufacturing process, the surface of FDM parts lacks quality. In the present research work, the FDM built parts were surface treated with organically modified monunorillonite (OMMT) nanoparticles. The post-treated specimens were characterised by XRD, FTIR, SEM and UV-vis analysis which revealed the successful deposition of nanoparticles on the surface of the FDM built specimens. Effect of post-treatment parameters on surface hardness, dimensional accuracy and average surface roughness was investigated using Taguchi technique. It was found that the embedment of OMMT nanoparticles increased the hardness of FDM parts due to its ceramic attributes and the combined effect of nanoparticles/chemicals reduced the surface roughness providing a smooth surface. Moreover, the process does not marred the dimensional accuracy of the fabricated parts. Further, multi objective optimisation technique was used to find the optimum post-treatment parameters. The present approach can be utilised for improving the surface integrity of FDM parts.