The study on the influence of 3D printing settings on the mechanical properties of products

Abstract

Additive manufacturing, as known as 3D printing, nowadays, is utilised as the most potential manufacturing method which has revolutionised the manufacturing industry by its rapid and efficient. This thesis’s purpose is to examine the influence of printing parameters on the mechanical of products manufactured by FDM technique (Fused Deposition Method) which is the most widely used method. There are many factors could affect the results of manufacture process, however, in the scope of this paper, 3 main configurations would be examined including layer thickness, infill percentage and building orientation. In general, the project was carried out in 4 steps including designing prototype, printing samples, mechanical test and evaluation. Firstly, 18 types of PLA dog-bones which were designed and printed by 3D printer, were prepare with 3 specimens for each one. After that, these specimens went through tensile test with Testometric testing machine to obtain Young’s modulus, tensile strength and strain. The results were then recorded and represented in results chapter. The final results show the linear relation between infill percentage and mechanical properties, meanwhile not with layer thickness. The building orientation also significantly changes the performance of 3D printing products.