Optimization of 3D printing process parameters using design of experiments for ABS material.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) Technology is used to construct three-dimensional complex geometrical shapes by depositing material on the heated bed. This technique is becoming popular because it reduces the wastage of raw material and production time. The primary objective of this study is to identify the effectiveness of the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) based 3D printing process parameters on the Flexural Strength and the secondary objective is to identify the maximum and minimum Flexural Strength of the part developed part. The material used in this study is Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). Four parameters namely, Layer Height, Infill Density, Number of Shells, and Print Speed at three levels are used in the full factorial design (a Design of Experiment technique) to obtain the total number of experiments. A total of 81 samples are printed using a FDM-based 3D printer with ABS as a material and tested using the standard of the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) for testing Flexural Strength ASTM D790-15. These experimental values along with the full factorial design are used in ANOVA to find out the effectiveness of the parameters. Result concludes that, while analyzing the individual parameters Layer Height and Infill Density shows a highly effect the Flexural Strength while the combination of Layer Height and Number of Shells and Layer Height and Infill Density shows the great influence on Flexural Strength when combined effects are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]