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Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is gaining distinct advantage in manufacturing industries because of their ability to manufacture parts with complex shapes without any tooling requirement and human interface. The properties of FDM-built parts exhibit high dependence on process parameters and can be improved by setting parameters at suitable levels. Resistance to wear is an important consideration for enhancing the service life of functional parts. Hence, the present work focuses on an extensive study to understand the effect of five important parameters such as layer thickness, part build orientation, raster angle, raster width, and air gap on the sliding wear of test specimen. Microphotographs are used to explain the mechanism of wear. The study not only provides insight into complex dependency of wear on process parameters but also develops a statistically validated predictive equation. The equation can be used by the process planner for accurate wear prediction in practice.

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In the present study, cylindrical ABS P400 polymer parts (diameter 6.5 mm) to be used as die-sinking EDM (electric discharge machining) novel electrodes were fabricated using a fused deposition modeling (FDM) process. To meet the conductivity requirement in EDM, ABS parts were metallized using an innovative method that comprised putting aluminum–charcoal (Al–C) on them followed by their copper electroplating. Real-time EDM of the mild steel workpiece was performed using novel electrodes, and machining performance of the electrodes, measured in terms of dimensional accuracy, i.e., change in diameter (ΔD) and change in depth (ΔH) of the cavity, under varying levels of three EDM factors, i.e., current (I), pulse on time (Ton), and pulse off time (Toff), was investigated. Machining results were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), perturbation graphs, and 3D surface plots. The optimal setting of the EDM parameters for minimizing ΔD and ΔH was determined using the desirability function approach. The suitability of the novel electrodes for EDM was ascertained by comparing their machining results with those of solid copper (SC) electrodes and electrodes fabricated by FDM and metallized using the electro-deposition method (FDM-EM), already reported in the literature, under similar machining conditions. From the results, it was found that ΔD and ΔH were less when EDM was performed using novel electrodes.