A Study of Melt Flow Analysis of an ABS-Iron Composite in Fused Deposition Modelling Process

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a filament based rapid prototyping system which offers the possibility of introducing new composite material for the FDM process as long as the new material can be made in feedstock filament form. Swinburne has been undertaking extensive research in development of new composite materials involving acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and other materials including metals. In order to predict the behaviour of new ABS based composite materials in the course of FDM process, it is necessary to investigate the flow of the composite material in liquefier head. No such study is available considering the geometry of the liquefier head. This paper presents 2-D and 3-D numerical analysis of melt flow behaviour of a representative ABS-iron composite through the 90-degree bent tube of the liquefier head of the fused deposition modelling process using ANSYS FLOTRAN and CFX finite element packages. Main flow parameters including temperature, velocity, and pressure drop have been investigated. Filaments of the filled ABS have been fabricated and characterized to verify the possibility of prototyping using the new material on the current FDM machine. Results provide promising information in developing the melt flow modelling of metal-plastic composites and in optimising the FDM parameters for better part quality with such composites.