Minimization of Surface Roughness for ABS Specimens Relatively to FDM Process Parameters - an Experimental Analysis

FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) has grown in popularity as an additive manufacturing (AM) method thanks to its low cost, ease of usage, and wide range of materials. Nevertheless, various aspects, such as Surface quality, still require improvement. Based on our prior research, we evaluated the effect of three major process parameters (Layer thickness, Printing speed, and Extrusion temperature) on the final surface of ABS specimens. Response variables, including roughness parameters (Ra, Rq, Rz, Rp, RSm) and 3D graphs, were evaluated using an L27 Taguchi Orthogonal Array with no surface post-treatment. Regarding the main roughness parameter Ra, values ranged from 7.18 to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">13.4\ μ m</tex> , The best surface quality was obtained for the highest level of 4000 mm/min, regarding Printing Speed comparison. When varying Layer thickness, the smoothest surface was achieved for the lowest setting of 0.1 mm. Finally, an overall improvement in the surface finish was noted when raising the Extrusion temperature. Empirical observations were validated using ANOVA before presenting a brief benchmark with other studies. Analysis of Variance revealed that Layer thickness (A) is the most significant input for all roughness indicators.