Analysis and Investigation the Effect of the Printing Parameters on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of PLA Parts Fabricated via FDM Printing

Abstract

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a commonly used additive manufacturing (AM) technique that creates proto-types and parts with intricate geometrical designs. It is gaining popularity since it enhances products by removing the need for expensive equipment. The printed item’s mechanical properties are affected by the type of materials used, the printing process, and the printing parameters. The 3-D model of the polylactic acid (PLA) filament generated specimens was created using the Fused Deposition Modeling procedure and developed using Solid Works. This study investigates the effect of printing parameters on the mechanical and physical properties of samples printed using a Fused Deposition Modeling machine (Creality Ender-5 Pro). Six parameters are used: infill pattern, density, overlap percentage, layer thickness, shell thickness, and top/bottom layer number. Five levels were chosen for each FDM parameter. The results illustrated how printing parameters affected the mechanical and physical properties of samples, which were proven by ultimate tensile stress, surface roughness, and percentage of tensile average deviation. A comparison between the predicted results and the measured results was presented, and the maximum percentage error of the model, which fit the data well, was 0.54%, 0.3%, and 1.36% for ultimate tensile strength (UTS), surface roughness (Ra), and Tensile average deviation percentage respectively.