Analysis and Numerical Simulation of the Structural Performance of Fused Deposition Modeling Samples With Variable Infill Values

Abstract

The prediction of the structural performance of additive manufacturing (AM) parts has become one of the main challenges to boost the use of AM in industry. The structural properties of AM are very important in order to design and fabricate parts not only of any geometrical shape but also with variable or customized mechanical properties. While AM experimental studies are common in the literature, a limited number of investigations have focused on the analysis and prediction of the mechanical properties of AM parts using theoretical and numerical approaches, such as the finite element method (FEM); however, their results have been not accurate yet. Thus, more research work is needed in order to develop reliable prediction models able to estimate the mechanical performance of AM parts before fabrication. In this paper, the analysis and numerical simulation of the structural performance of fused deposition modeling (FDM) samples with variable infill values is presented. The aim is to predict the mechanical performance of FDM components using numerical models. Thus, several standard tensile test specimens were fabricated in an FDM system using different infill values, a constant layer thickness, one shell perimeter, and polylactic acid (PLA) material. These samples were measured and modeled in a computer-aided design (CAD) system before performing the experimental tensile tests. Numerical models and simulations based on the FEM method were then developed and carried out in order to predict the structural performance of the specimens. Finally, the experimental and numerical results were compared and conclusions drawn.

Property enhancement approaches of fused filament fabrication technology: A review

“…Simulation models and multi-objective optimization methods were also used to analyze the effects of process parameters on the selected response variables. [89][90][91][92][93] Mercedes et al [94] investigated and identified the essential factors that influence the surface integrity of fused filament fabricated PLA samples. They experimented with five printing factors, including layer height, printing speed, temperature, wall thickness, and printing path, to determine the ideal combination of these to reduce the printed part's surface roughness.…”

“…Simulation models and multi‐objective optimization methods were also used to analyze the effects of process parameters on the selected response variables. [ 89–93 ]…”

Mechanical Evaluation of PET-G 3D-Printed Wrist-Hand Orthosis: An Integrated Experimental and Numerical Approach

“…Numerous papers that elucidate simulation tests utilizing the finite element method fail to establish a comparison between outcomes attained through experimental tests. This includes papers that exclusively employ mechanical parameters of the material [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] and those that solely delineate the technique for applying loads to a simulated model of the orthosis [ 28 ].…”

Determination of the Elasticity Modulus of Additively Manufactured Wrist Hand Orthoses

“…There are many articles describing simulation tests using the finite element method in which the results obtained were not compared with experimental tests. Some examples, where the mechanical parameters of pure material were adopted can be found in [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]; another example, where only the method of loading the orthosis simulation model is described, can be found in [ 23 ].…”