EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF TENSILE STRENGTH AND PRINTING TIME OF 3D PRINTED SPECIMENS BY USING TAGUCHI ROBOST DESIGN METHODOLOGY

Fusion Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a filament extrusion based process that integrates CAD system, materials science, computer numerical control, and the extrusion process to fabricate 3D parts directly from a CAD model. In the basic FDM process, a plastic filament is drawn into a liquefier head, where the filament is heated to a semi liquid state and then extruded through a nozzle to deposit roads or beads to fill each layer of the part on to a platform in a temperature-controlled chamber. The computer controlled head moves in X–Y plane while the platform moves in the z-direction as required by the selected layer thickness. The main process parameters include slice height (layer thickness), model tip diameter, model build temperature, part fill style, part interior style, raster width, raster angle, and raster air gap. In this work the effect of FDM parameters, viz., layer thickness, print temperature, infill density and infill pattern on tensile strength and printing time of Carbon fiber PLA will be studied. The printing process will be done by considering three levels for each parameter and a full factorial design of experiments (34) will be conducted. The tensile test data will be analysed by conducting ANOVA and Regression Equation will be generated to obtain optimum tensile strength and optimum printing time.