Simulating and Predicting the Part Warping in Fused Deposition Modeling by Thermal-Structural Coupling Analysis

Area of Science:

• Additive Manufacturing
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a widely used additive manufacturing technique.
• FDM faces challenges like thermal stress and warping due to temperature fluctuations, leading to part deformation and print failures.
• Predicting and mitigating these deformations is crucial for successful FDM processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a numerical model for predicting temperature and thermal stress fields in FDM.
• To investigate the influence of sheet shape and infill line directions (ILDs) on part distortion.
• To propose an efficient simulation method for FDM processes.

Main Methods:

• Developed a numerical model using finite element modeling (FEM) and the 'birth-death element' technique.
• Implemented an element sorting logic based on ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL) for faster simulations.
• Simulated and experimentally verified the effects of sheet shape and ILDs on FDM part distortion.

Main Results:

• The numerical model accurately predicted part deformation in FDM.
• Infill line directions (ILDs) were found to have a significant impact on part distortion.
• Maximum sheet warping occurred when ILDs were aligned with the sheet's diagonal.

Conclusions:

• The proposed numerical modeling approach effectively predicts FDM deformation.
• Understanding the effect of ILDs is key to minimizing warping and optimizing FDM printing.
• This method provides a valuable tool for optimizing FDM printing parameters.