Study and optimisation of FDM process parameters for support-material-free deposition of filaments and increased layer adherence

摘要

As a consequence of the growth in additive manufacturing applications, research on the improvement of these processes has gained relevance. One such process, the Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)-process, deposits a support-material to build negative surface features such as snap-fits. The purpose of this work is to determine the parameters that enable the fabrication of these types of features without a support material. We applied a design-of-experiments method to identify the quality of the non-supported deposition and the adherence between layers. As to control factors, we defined the deposition temperature and the extrusion and deposition velocities, while the nozzle diameter and the deposition height were held constant. For response factors, we defined the distance, the non-supported deposition quality, and the ultimate tensile stress. Additionally, an optimisation study was performed to maximise the mechanical strength and the non-supported distance, thereby making it possible to determine the suitable range of parameters for implementation of the process.