The Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology of producing materials layers upon layers to make objects from a 3D model data is a manufacturing process which eliminates the use of tools and fixtures, highly flexible to design modifications can reduce material wastage and inventory etc. In this study, the process optimization of a 3D printer for manufacturing the accessories of railcar was carried out. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used for the Design of Experiment (DoE) which consists of independent process parameters in the following ranges: scan speed (50-20 mm/sec), nozzle diameter (0.1-1.0 mm) thickness of layer (0.10-0.50 mm) and bed temperature (60-200°C). Taking the surface roughness as the response of the designed experiments, the four factors were varied over 2 levels and the statistical analysis of the results obtained was used for the predictive model which correlates the surface roughness of the plastic knob produced as a function of the independent process parameters. The results obtained indicated that the quality of the materials produced, which is a function of the finish requirement, depends on the print quality and the independent process parameters and vice versa. In addition, the rate at which the material run off the nozzle, which is a function of the manufacturing cycle time, is inversely proportional to the diameter of the nozzle.
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