Investigating the effect of process parameters on the degree of fusion of two adjacent tracks produced through fused deposition modelling of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different process parameters on the degree of fusion of two adjacent tracks produced by fused deposition modelling of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Incorrectly defined process parameters adversely influence the geometrical accuracy, surface roughness, and mechanical properties of the printed parts. Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted to this effect, but few investigations have focused on the defects of tracks, monolayers, double, or few layers despite significantly influencing the shape of the entire component and causing other printing defects. In this respect, the current study assesses the fusion of two adjacent tracks when printed using different key process parameters (layer thickness, infill density, printing speed, air gap, and extrusion temperature). The printed adjacent double track parts were examined using a scanning electron microscope and their degree of fusion calculated as a ratio of the height of the neck (h) and diameter of adjacent double tracks (d) after fusion and cooling. It was concluded that the highest degree of fusion of two adjacent tracks of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material was obtained at 0.25 mm, 40 mm/s, -0.10 mm, and 255 degrees C layer thickness, printing speed, air gap, and extrusion temperature, respectively.