Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) has been developed as a short-cycle prototyping process and has become a viable procedure for producing working polymer parts. The fabrication of gears is also a promising application owing to its low weight, flexibility in design, and low cost. The printing parameters based on which interlayer bonding and anisotropic behavior are determined have a high influence on the static structural and durability of such gears. The study examines the effects of layer thickness, fiber orientation, and number of layers on the mechanical response of Polylactic Acid spur gears. 3D gear model was created and simulated under static loading using finite element analysis in ANSYS Workbench. The most significant factors were identified with the help of the analysis of variance which was conducted as the method of statistical evaluation. The findings revealed that thinner layers enhanced the stress distribution and minimized deformation, implying that the successive layers adhered more firmly. The orientation of the fibers also played a role, with the gears printed with 0° orientation showing the highest stiffness and minimal deformation. Analysis of variance ensured that the number of layers and layer thickness had the greatest influence on the equivalent stress and the strain of elasticity, and the result was statistically significant, with a p-value of 0.013 below 0.05, and the corresponding contribution was 44%. The findings suggest plausible ways in which additive manufacturing can evolve in the future to more regular and green procedures for producing working mechanical components.
Rabbaje et al. (2026) studied this question.