Fused filament fabrication is considered one of the most used processes in additive manufacturing rapid prototypes out of polymeric material. Poor strength of the deposited layers is still one of the main critical problems in this process, which affects the mechanical properties of the final parts. To improve the mechanical strength, investigation into various process parameters must be considered. In this article, the influence of different process parameters has been experimentally investigated by means of physicochemical and mechanical characterizations. Special attention was given to the thermal aspect. In that respect, the in situ measurement of temperature profile during deposition indicated that several parameters affect the cooling rate of material and consequently have an influence on the final parts. It was found that the influence of increasing the extruder temperature is more significant in comparison with other process parameters.

Fused filament fabrication (FFF), which is an additive manufacturing technique, opens alternative possibilities for complex geometries fabrication. However, its use in functional products is limited due to anisotropic strength issues. Indeed, the strength of FFF fabricated parts across successive layers in the build direction (Z direction) can be significantly lower than the strength in X-Y directions. This strength weakness has been attributed to poor bonding between printed layers. This bonding depends on the temperature of the current layer being deposited-at melting temperature (T m)-and the temperature of the previously deposited layer. It is assumed that depositing a layer at T m on a layer at temperature around crystallization temperature (T c) would enable higher material crystallinity and thus better bonding between previous and present layers. On the contrary, if the previous layer temperature is below T c , material crystallinity will be low and bonding strength weak. This paper aims at studying the significant effect of temperature difference (DT) between previous and current deposited layers temperatures on (1) inter-layers bonding strength improvement and (2) part dimensions, geometry and structure stability. A 23% increase in the inter-layers bonding strength for previous layer temperature slightly higher than T c reported here confirms the above assumption and offers a first solution toward the increase in inter-layers bonding strength in FFF.