The impact of process parameters on the tensile strength, flexural strength and the manufacturing time of fused filament fabricated (FFF) parts

This paper aims to study the impact of three controllable variables on the tensile strength and flexural strength of the polylactic acid (PLA) parts printed via fused filament fabrication (FFF). Wide variety of parameters can be changed in a three-dimensional (3D) printer, out of which layer height, part orientation, and infill are selected in this experimental study. The main downside of additively manufactured parts produced by FFF is the low strength compared to the conventional processes such as machining and injection moulding. So, in this research, efforts are made to show the impact of selected parameters on flexural strength and tensile strength. Higher-strength is obtained at higher levels of layer height and infill. Samples with 80% infill proved to have higher flexural and tensile strength. Moreover, as the process of additive manufacturing (AM) is also called rapid prototyping (RP), so it is of paramount importance to understand the effects of the selected parameters on the manufacturing time of the test specimens, which is also presented in this study. Results obtained indicate that a parameter setting of 0.3 mm layer height, 0 degrees orientation and 80% infill gives the least manufacturing time, showing the possibility of producing parts with high strength in less time. The presented experimental investigation is based on the Taguchi method, and the test specimens for flexural and tensile strength were made according to the ASTM standards. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.