Discrete Element Modeling of Fused Deposition Modeling Process

Fused Deposition Modeling components show anisotropic material properties as a result of the difference in bonding strengths between inter- and intra-layer particles. This difference occurs due to temperature gradient of the deposited filaments which affects the filament adhesion as well as due to the presence of voids or other discontinuities in the printed object. Discrete Element Modelling (DEM) is a discontinuous methodology which follows the idea of treating filaments as discrete rigid particles with simplified geometries for calculating the thermal interactions between the particles. Models using this approach allow the investigators to correlate the adhesion effects between filaments based on experimental data which ultimately will allow for optimization of the relevant printing parameters.Mechanical Engineerin