EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS AND STRENGTH OF POLYCARBONATE (PC) PARTS IN FUSED DEPOSITION MODELING PROCESS BY USING TAGUCHI’S METHOD

Abstract

Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology meets the current needs in the industry. Fused Deposition modeling
(FDM) is one of the key technology of RP. This paper presents experimental investigations on influence of important
process parameters viz. Raster Angle, Road width and air gap on Surface integrity and Strength of Fused Deposition
Modeling (FDM) processed PC (Poly Carbonate) part. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a solid-based rapid
prototyping method that extrudes material, layer-by-layer, to build a model. Knowledge of the Surface integrity and
strength characteristics of FDM fabricated parts is vital. This extensively depends on process variable parameters.
Hence, the Optimization of these process parameters of FDM is able to make the system more specific and repeatable
and such progression can guide to use of FDM in rapid manufacturing applications rather than only producing
prototypes. In order to understand this issue, this paper explains the results obtained in the experimental work on the
cause of the main FDM process variable parameters namely, (A) raster angle, (B) road width, (C) air gap. The
Polycarbonate (PC) material was used in this research work to build parts. Numbers of specimen are made by Full
Factorial Design .Experiments were conducted using Full Factorial design of experiments with three levels for each
factor. The results are analyzed statistically to determine the significant factors and their interactions.