Empirical Modeling and Minimization of Environmental Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) Process

This study investigates the impact of process parameters on Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions during Additive Manufacturing (AM) using the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technique. Key variables such as temperature, print speed, layer thickness, orientation angle, and infill density were examined to understand their influence on VOC release. A Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed to develop a second-order regression model for predicting VOC emissions. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that individual and quadratic effects—particularly those of infill density and temperature—significantly impact VOC emissions, while most interaction effects were comparatively less influential. The experimental VOC Index ranged from 91.6 to 129.5, and the developed model demonstrated strong predictive performance, supported by residual analysis showing a mean residual of –3.48, standard deviation of 6.73, minimum and maximum residuals of –14.18 and 12.15, respectively, and an overall RMSE of 7.48 with an MAE of 6.35. The optimal parameter combination (T = 205 °C, V = 35 mm/s, h = 0.5 mm, φ = 60°, ρ = 30%) yielded the minimum VOC Index of 91.6, with the maximum deviation between experimental and predicted values being less than 3.2%. The empirical model is specific to the tested conditions and may require recalibration for different materials. Overall, this work provides a quantitative framework for optimizing FFF process parameters to minimize VOC emissions while maintaining part quality, supporting more sustainable AM practices.