Taguchi-Based Analysis of Wear Performance in SLA Printed Boron Nitride Composites

This work uses the Taguchi technique to optimize wear behavior in hexagonal boron nitride-reinforced stereolithography (SLA) composites. Cylindrical wear samples based on the ASTM G99 standard were created utilizing an Anycubic SLA printer and photosensitive resin reinforced with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) particles at different weight percentages (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt%). The following process characteristics were taken into account: Material composition (Mc), Build angle (Ba), Post-curing time (Pc), and Lift speed (Ls). Wear experiments were carried out using a pin-on-disc apparatus with a constant load of 10 N, sliding speed of 200 rpm, and sliding distance of 502.72 m/s. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDAX) were used to assess h-BN particle dispersion for the developed samples. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to identify the best process parameters and their relative contributions to wear rate. The findings showed that material composition had the greatest impact on wear rate (49.724%), followed by lift speed (27.075%), post-curing time (16.934%), and build angle (6.266%). The morphology of the worn surface was studied by SEM analysis. The ideal combination of parameters for producing the lowest wear rate was found to be 1.5 wt% BN, 90° construction angle, 30 min post-curing period, and 15 mm/min lift speed. The outcomes of this work show that the Taguchi technique has the ability to optimize the wear behavior of h-BN-reinforced SLA composites, which can be useful in a variety of applications that need improved tribological features.