<p>Abstract: Additive manufacturing popularly known as 3-D printing&nbsp;has become a critical factor in the aerospace, biomedical, and automotive industries. The ability to manufacture complex shapes quickly and easily while also being cost-effective and environmentally friendly has made 3-D printing technology a promising step in the future of engineering. However, a key drawback to the technology is the reduction of strength and toughness of printed parts in the vertical direction (perpendicular to the layer line). Due to the weak interfacial bonding and very low infill density, printed parts are often lacking in strength and toughness. While these issues are not a concern for 3-D prints at lower angles, they make printing at higher angles much more difficult and it has become a consensus that prints above 45 degrees are not advisable for load-bearing applications in the direction perpendicular to the layer separations. This severely limits the capabilities of 3-D printed objects as the most complex shapes require high printing orientations. However, while a high printing orientation may have a detrimental effect on the prints, it is unknown if twisting the angle of the prints (along theY-Axis) while simultaneously changing the printing orientation will have a positive or negative influence on the toughness and strength of the prints. In this study, we seek to determine if a change in the twisting orientation or printing orientation of the 3-D prints will affect the toughness of the prints. The experiment was designed with two factors and 4 levels. This was performed with a full factorial experimental design. Our independent variables, the printing, and twisting orientation were varied at 0,30,60, and 90 degrees. Our dependent variables were the tensile strength and toughness of the printed parts. Each specific orientation (for example a printing orientation of 0 degrees and a twisting orientation of 30 degrees) was replicated 3 times and thus we had a total of 48 tests. The tensile strength and toughness of the printed parts were tested using a universal tensile testing machine. The parts were made of polylactic acid (PLA) polymer material with different twisting and printing orientations on a Creality FDM 3D printer. Our findings showed that the twisting orientation of 30 degrees increases the tensile strength and the toughness of prints. This was evident even when the printing orientation was above 45 degrees. By varying the twisting angle, it was found that we can make more complex prints much tougher and spatially efficient to manufacture.</p>

Investigating of the Effect of Twisting and Printing Orientation on the Toughness of 3-D Printed Parts

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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