Surface Characteristics of Machined Polystyrene with 3D Printed Thermoplastic Tool

An effort is made in this work to appraise the surface characteristics of machined expandable polystyrene (EPS) with a novel 3D printed thermoplastic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) tool. Linear grooves on EPS were made on a vertical milling machine that was modified to conduct experiments in the laboratory. The tests were designed as per the Taguchi L9 based factorial design of experimentation while varying process parameters such as depth of cut, spindle speed, and feed rate. The machining responses dimensional accuracy and surface roughness of the machined grooves were studied. Furthermore, the surface topography of the machined specimens was considered to investigate the mechanism of material removal in response to the processing conditions. Moreover, mathematical models developed for the prediction of the output responses showed a significant correlation with the experimental results. The results of the statistical study indicate that the surface roughness is influenced by the spindle speed and dimensional accuracy by the depth-of-cut. Overall, the findings of the experimental work advocated the feasibility of 3D printed thermoplastic tools for machining soft polymeric materials. It can become a useful alternative for mass and batch production.