Improvement of Surface Finish by Multiple Piezoelectric Transducers in Fused Deposition Modelling

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) which embrace as a new range technology of creating and producing end user parts in term of adding material layer by layer to create solid objects from 3D CAD data. AM in particular Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) used (ABS) thermoplastic have shown the most popular among the industry as its technology can print complex geometrical part without human intervention and tools. However, FDM fierce enemy whereas the common problem of stair-stepping, which means that seam lines appear between layers and excess material if often left as a residue, cause to lead rough surface and poor quality finish. It is often desirable for an AM model to have aesthetic or functional importance. Hence, reducing layer thickness will generally improve surface roughness but will add to the build time for the model. As an interest investigates the use of ultrasonic for FDM, this experiment will focus on the effect of applying multiple piezoelectric transducer for FDM printer. This paper aims to explore the effect use of multiple piezoelectric with different frequency applied (27, 40, 50 kHz) to improve surface finish quality part printed by FDM whereby an ultrasonic transducer firmly attached onto the platform. Optical microscope with the aid of pro VIS software version 2.90 was used to measure the quality of surface roughness of samples printed with vibration in the above stated frequency. Hence, it was found that 1 piezo with 50 kHz frequency applied to the FDM machine achieved improve surface finish due to less layer thickness defect and finer layer thickness produce.

Mechanical reliability of short carbon fiber reinforced ABS produced via vibration assisted fused deposition modeling

“…We call this technique vibration-assisted FDM (VA-FDM). Our approach is different than the recently reported application of ultrasonic vibrations on print bed, which was focused on the surface finish of FDMed polymers (Mohamed et al , 2016). We also provided a detailed Weibull analysis of the mechanical properties of FDMed SCFR-ABS, which is currently missing in the literature.…”

FDM-Based 3D Printing of Polymer and Associated Composite: A Review on Mechanical Properties, Defects and Treatments

“…Up to now, there have only been few experiments that have been conducted to investigate the effect of ultrasound on printed polymers and composites. In a few experiments, it has been identified that, by supplying ultrasonic vibration during printing, the surface quality of the final product can be improved while reducing the staircase effect and layer thickness [ 253 , 254 ]. Maidin et al [ 255 ] performed an experiment to identify the impact of ultrasound vibration on the ABS polymer print by accompanying it with an ultrasound frequency of 11 kHz, 16 kHz and 21 kHz.…”

Recent advances in fused deposition modeling based additive manufacturing of thermoplastic composite structures: A review

“…In this method, ultrasonic vibration is supplied during part printing due to which staircase effect and layer thickness gets reduced and surface quality of end product gets improved. 116,117 In one of the study, 3D printing of ABS polymer was accompanied by 11 kHz, 16 kHz and 21 kHz ultrasonic vibration using piezoelectric transducer. It was observed that at 21 kHz frequency of vibration, 3D printed part had achieved remarkable surface finish.…”