Effect of process parameters on tensile strength and surface quality of PLA-ABS part produced by fused deposition modeling

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing technology to fabricate three-dimensional prototypes with complex geometries. The low ultimate tensile strength and poor surface roughness of the produced part limits the engineering application of this technology. However, it is necessary to indentify the optimal process parameters to improve the ultimate tensile strength and surface roughness of the part. FDM process was influenced by many process parameters and the major process parameters such as raster angle, infill pattern and build orientation has been considered to study their influence on response parameters such as ultimate tensile strength and surface roughness of Polylactic acid (PLA)-Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) blend. In this work, an experimental study was validated using response surface methodology and influence of the process parameters on response parameters were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to study the microstructure of the specimen at the fracture interface. The result showed that infill pattern was the significant factor affecting the ultimate tensile strength. Surface roughness of the specimen was influenced by build orientation followed by infill pattern and raster angle