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On the Heuristic Procedure to Determine Processing Parameters in Additive Manufacturing Based on Materials Extrusion.
Georgijs Bakradze1,2, Egīls Arājs2, Sergejs Gaidukovs3
1Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, LV-1063 Riga, Latvia.
Polymers
|December 19, 2020
Summary
This study introduces a novel heuristic procedure to optimize processing parameters (PPs) for materials extrusion additive manufacturing. The method efficiently determines optimal PPs, reducing material waste and optimization time for defect-free 3D printed parts.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Manufacturing Processes
Background:
- Materials extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) requires precise control over processing parameters (PPs) for optimal part quality.
- Current methods for PP optimization can be time-consuming, material-intensive, and may not account for machine-specific variations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a systematic heuristic procedure for optimizing key PPs in materials extrusion AM.
- To reduce the time and material required for PP optimization while ensuring defect-free part production.
Main Methods:
- A design-of-experiment approach using eleven specific test objects was employed.
- Iterative testing of PP combinations, selecting optimal values based on printed-part quality for subsequent stages.
- The procedure was validated using two common polymer feedstock materials.
Main Results:
- The heuristic procedure effectively determined optimal PPs, proving insensitive to machine-specific artefacts.
- Significant reductions in optimization time (to several hours) and feedstock material consumption were achieved.
- Tensile tests highlighted the influence of polymer's amorphous and semi-crystalline nature on optimization outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The proposed systematic approach offers an efficient and robust method for optimizing PPs in materials extrusion AM without statistical analysis or simulations.
- The developed procedure, implemented as the 3DOptimizer® web-tool, enables faster and more resource-efficient production of high-quality 3D printed parts.
