Experiment: Analyse the effect of different process parameters,

materials on printing time, material required, surface finish, etc.

through simulation using 3D printing software on sliced models.

Software Used: Flash Print

Theory:
Introduction:-
Rapid Prototyping is an additive manufacturing technology which was commercialized
during the early 1980s. This technology is used to build a physical part directly from a 3D
CAD (Computer-Aided Design) file. The parts are built by using the layer by layer
manufacturing technology. Application of Rapid Prototyping technology has greatly reduced
product development costs. Designers use Rapid Prototyping technique to determine
product characteristics like shape, manufacturability and surface finish.
In order to manufacture the precise parts, it is necessary to have a good surface finish. A
good surface finish on the part helps in eliminating the post-processing costs. There are
many commercial Rapid Prototyping systems available in the market such as
Stereolithography (SLA), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Laminated Object Manufacturing
(LOM), Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Solid Ground Curing (SGC) and Three-
Dimensional Printing (3DP), etc. Out of these, FDM accounts for almost half of the Rapid
Prototyping systems built in the market.
FDM is a plastic extrusion process in which the plastic filament is heated to its melting point
and it is deposited in the form of very thin layers onto a platform via a heated nozzle. FDM
process is simple, which makes it suitable for being chosen by users. It has many advantages
such as low equipment cost, inexpensive tooling, a wide range of material availability,
acceptable dimensional accuracy. However, it has also got several disadvantages such as low
mechanical strength, difficulty in obtaining thin walls and poor surface finish. A significant
amount of research is required on surface finish and process optimization which improves
the performance of manufactured parts .
In the FDM process, there are many factors which influence the surface finish. These
consists of material properties (melting temperature of the material, viscosity, density, type
of material used, mechanical properties), chamber properties (pressure and temperature
inside the chamber, vibrations, position of platform, position of extruder, system
coordinates, heat evacuation), extruder properties (speed of printing, diameter of nozzle)
and deposition characteristics (building direction, wall thickness, layer height, orientation,
external geometry).
Due to the high number of parameters available, factors which were more convenient and
economical were chosen. Earlier research was made that layer height and part orientation
were the most significant factors that affect the surface quality of the parts.
In this experiment, our main emphasis is laid on parameters like extrusion temperature, the
diameter of the nozzle, infill density, speed of printing and melting temperature which
affects the surface finish of the parts build through the FDM process.
In the FDM process, generally, nozzle diameters of size 0.25, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mm are
available as standards. In the FDM 3D printers, the material is in the form of wire spools
which is available in different diameters (0.75–3 mm). Generally, the nozzle temperature
which is used in melting the material ranges from 210 to 260 °C. Further, the layers are laid
down according to different infill patterns, as per the CAD design and the dimensions of the
part.
The basic steps in the fused deposition modelling process are given below.

Material and Methods

The material used in this FDM process is PLA (Polylactic acid). It is insoluble in water and is
biodegradable. It is also a bioactive thermoplastic. The properties of the material are shown
in table 1.
For the preparation of 3D CAD model, a well-known software SolidWorks 2013 is used and
also for converting the 3D CAD into STL format. Cura 2.6.2 which is inbuilt software of
“Ultimaker” 3D Printer is used for slicing the STL file into the G code file.

Property Valve
Technical name Polyacetic acid (PLA)
Chemical formula (C3H4O2)n
Melt temperature 158-170 C
Typical injection moulding temperature 178-240 C
Heat deflection temperature (HDT) 49-52 C
Tensile strength 60-65 MPa
Flexural strength 49-111 MPa
Specific gravity 1.3
Shrink rate 0.36-0.40%
Table 1 Properties of the material Property Value
The STL file is stored in a card reader. It is inserted in the reader slot of the 3D printer. The
printer has been specified with layer resolution upto 20 µ (0.001 inch) and the maximum
operating temperature at the nozzle is 280 °C. The printer is backed up by an open filament
system capable of printing with any material of 2.85 mm thickness.
The three input parameters studied are:
• Infill Density: percentage of the object’s interior volume that is filled with material.
• Layer Height: the thickness of each layer constituting the object.
• Printing Speed: The speed at which printing happens.
In order to determine the best parameters for the specimen, we printed a cube of 20 mm3 ×
20 mm3 × 20 mm3 for different infill densities, layer height and printing speed with the help
of “Cura” software. The input parameters used in this work and their levels are shown in
Table 2.
Due to this vast range in parameters, our experiment had been long and timeconsuming.
Due to an increase in the experimental trials, the experiment was not even cost-effective. So
to overcome this problem we have used a statistical software named as “Minitab 18” which
basically provides us with a matrix of our parameters. The matrix has been created by
assuming the three values of parameters in between our range and it has been created
using Taguchi design of experiments (DOE).
Since there are three process parameters each with three levels in this printing, if a full
factor experimental design had been used, there would be a total of 81 runs and it would
have been too expensive.

Parameter Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Layer height (mm) 0.06 0.1 0.2
Infill density (%) 20 50 100
Printing speed (mm/s) 50 100 150
Table 2 Parameters ranges

Effects of Process Parameters on Surface Roughness …

Run order Layer height(mm) Infill density (%) Printing speed(mm/s)

1 0.06 20 50
2 0.06 50 100
3 0.06 100 150
4 0.1 20 100
5 0.1 50 150
6 0.1 100 50
7 0.2 20 150
8 0.2 50 50
9 0.2 100 100
Table 3 L9 orthogonal arrays for the three process parameters used in this
To overcome this problem, one of the strategies is Taguchi’s orthogonal scheme. An L9
orthogonal was selected for the experimentation as shown in Table 3. The data summary for
the output responses is given in Table 4. Parts fabricated by the 3D printers are shown in
Fig. 2.
After getting the adequate parameter values the following properties were optimized one
by one.
(a) Printing Time—It was determined by the help of Ultimaker Cura software. After
designing the 3D model when the STL file was imported, the software sliced the design and
provided the actual time taken by the Ultimaker to print that model.
(b) Surface Roughness—The study of surface roughness (Ra) is measured by Mitutoyo SJ-
301 roughness tester having least count 0.01 µm is used.
(c) Dimensional Accuracy—The dimension of our model was determined by the help of
Mitutoyo PJ-A3000 Profile Projector.

Run order Printing time (min) Surface roughness Ra(µm)

Top Side
1 101 1.31 3.695
2 71 1.67 5.28
3 141 1.84 5.545
4 36 1.93 6.9
5 35 3.78 6.765
6 172 7.55 14.94
7 16 5.4 13.635
8 38 2.42 13.255
9 52 1.93 13.1
Table 4 Data summary for output parameters

Fig. 1 Basic steps in the FDM process

Results and Discussions
After conducting the experiments with different settings of input parameters i.e. layer
height, infilled density and printing speed, the values of output parameter i.e. printing time,
surface roughness and dimensional accuracy were recorded and plotted as per Taguchi
design of experiments methodology.

Effect of Layer Height and Infilled Density on Surface Roughness

Figure 3 shows that with the increase in the infilled density, the surface roughness is also
increased. For 0.06 and 0.10 mm layer height, the surface roughness increases, but for 0.20
mm layer height the surface roughness decreases as there is an increase in layer height and
according to the requirement, there is a need for minimum surface roughness and smooth
surfaces.

Fig. 2 Specimen samples after fabrication

Effect of Layer Height and Printing Speed on Surface Roughness

Figure 4 shows the effect of two parameters, printing speed and layer height on surface
roughness. It has been found that for 0.06 mm of layer height, surface roughness increases
with an increase in printing speed. Further, for the layer height i.e. 0.1 and 0.2 mm, the
surface roughness is optimized. Figure 4 also shows that the comparison plot, the pattern of
the graph is not uniform. If we compare both the plots, then the average printing speed
i.e.100 mm/s would be the best option in both the cases.
Fig. 5 Effect of layer height and infilled density on error in percentage

Effect of Layer Height and Infilled Density on Dimensional Error (in

Percentage)
Figure 5 represents the effect of two parameters, layer height and infilled density on
dimensional error (in percentage). For 0.10 and 0.20 mm layer height, the graph shows a
clear view that with the increase of infilled density the percentage of dimensional error also
increases and in the case of 0.06 mm layer height, there is also an increase in the error
percentage at some extent but after that, on increasing the layer height there will be a
decrease in dimensional error.

Effect of Layer Height and Printing Speed on Dimensional Error (in

Percentage)
Figure 6 shows the effect of two parameters, layer height and printing speed on dimensional
error (in percentage). It has been found that there is a lot of variation for the 0.06 mm layer
height, the dimensional error increases with an increase in printing speed. For the 0.10 mm
layer height, the dimensional error decreases with an increase in speed but if speed is
increased thereafter to some extent, it then starts to increase. For 0.20 mm layer height, the
dimensional error increases with an increase in speed but after increasing the speed to
some extent, the dimensional error starts to decrease. The need is to get less the printing
time and the surface roughness and dimensional error should be minimum.
Optimization for Surface Roughness and Accuracy
The optimized parameters of the 3D printer were determined by the help of graph and data
analysis which is generated by the experimental investigation. For this Minitab 17 was used.
The optimized values of the input process variables are given in Table 5.

Conclusion
The major objective of this work is to investigate the printing performance of the Ultimaker
3D printer. All the experiment trials and planning were executed using the Taguchi design of
experiments (DOE) technique [17]. In total, 9 runs were undertaken in this experimental
investigation. The following conclusions are drawn on the basis of the performance of
machining characteristics studied in the present work namely, printing time, surface
roughness and dimensional accuracy. When the speed is increased up to the limit of 75
mm/s and layer height and infilled density remains unchanged, and it is directly proportional
to the surface roughness of the model. Moreover, the rapid increment in the error
progressed on increasing the layer height from 0.10 to 0.20 mm.