Effect of print parameters on the tensile strength and built time of FDM-printed PLA parts

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique based on the principle of forced extrusion. It is the most commonly used 3D printing processes, subjected to its ease of utilization. With the increase in product customizations, the use of 3D printing technique for manufacturing of the end-use product is on the rise. Therefore, the strength and other mechanical properties of the 3D-printed finished component are of great importance. These mechanical properties of an FDM-produced part are greatly affected by the selection of different values for printing parameters. Due to operational simplicity and low cost, FDM is widely researched, and a number of scholars have examined the effects of varying the values of parameters on the mechanical properties of the FDM-printed specimens. Where tensile strength of the 3D-printed parts is the mostly studied property among all mechanical properties. However, the effect of changing values of parameters on the tensile strength in relation to build time is least researched. The objective of this research is not only to examine the influence of printing parameters such as layer thickness, print angle, and infill density on the tensile strength of the 3D-printed components and optimize them but also to achieve the desired strength in a faster and timely manner. In this study, tensile test specimens were printed and tested according to ISO-527-2 standards. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is also performed to check the significance of print parameters. The results suggested that an increase in layer thickness has an inverse impact on the tensile strength, whereas an increase in print angle and infill density has a direct impact on the tensile properties of the FDM produced specimens. Furthermore, the print time is reduced with an increase in layer thickness and a decrease in infill density, as both lead to fewer passes required to print the part. However, print time has variable relationship with the print angle, with the least value at a 90 degrees print angle and the maximum value at a 15 degrees print angle.