Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical and Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Mary Ann Gaal

Second Advisor

Ilya Mingareev

Third Advisor

Rodrigo Mesa Arango

Fourth Advisor

Ashok Pandit

Abstract

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the most common additive manufacturing techniques used with applications ranging from rapid prototyping at a professional scale to simple part creation at a hobbyist scale. FDM printing has very little in terms of information based on how accurate printed parts can be. This issue, which is common amongst many different types of additive manufacturing techniques, is something that has not been studied in FDM printed parts in high volumes. Research based on the effects of process parameters on mechanical properties has been conducted in high proportions. This study focused on FDM machines using polylactic acid (PLA) filament as the main material being deposited. Three process parameters were tested: print speed, layer height, and bed temperature. Each of these parameters were tested at three different setting values. Using the different settings, twenty-seven trials were conducted using a part designed for the experiment. These test parts were then measured to analyze the dimensional inaccuracies created in all three axes by comparing the actual value to the values provided by the respective geometry. Once the printing process was complete, the parts were analyzed in both qualitative and quantitative methods. The parts were observed for any defects created in the printing process. The measured data was analyzed using both the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey tests as a way to calculate the statistically significant parameter values.

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