JOURNAL OF THE BRAZILIAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, vol.42, no.10, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
The Fused Filament Fabrication is a revolutionary method for the manufacturing industry. However, there are still numerous challenges need to be tackled in order to standardize the procedure of printing process. In this study, the process parameters ofline width, shell thickness, infill orientationandinfill overlap, have been experimentally investigated over their affect on tensile strength properties and the mass of the produced samples. Design of experiments has been planned, conducted and evaluated using the Taguchi approach. A total of 25 combinations of the four printing parameters with five different settings have been set according to theL(25)Orthogonal Array table. The sample parts have been printed via widely used type low-cost and open-source 3D printer. Afterwards, the printed samples are tested for their tensile strength. The best combinations of the parameters with relevant settings have been revealed byS/NRatio analysis. In order to validate the statistical results, the sample with newly found combination has been manufactured. Then, the ANOVA has been applied in order to reveal the percentage contributions of parameters to the tensile behaviour. It has been concluded that infill overlap and orientation parameters are dominant factors over theultimate tensile strengthof the samples. As a widespread effect, generalized equations have been established and presented in order to calculate the occupied area by an overlap. By implementing the equations, the users will be able to configure their input parameters in behalf of increasing the tensile strength while controlling the material consumption.