ANALYSIS OF THE DIMENSIONAL ACCURACY OF CASTING MODELS MANUFACTURED BY FUSED DEPOSITION MODELING TECHNOLOGY

The main purpose of the research was to assess the dimensional accuracy of models manufactured by additive technology Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The shape of the samples have been designed in a way which allow to take into account all typical geometrical characteristics of casting models, i.e. linear and angular dimensions. Machine "Dimension 1200es" has been used to build the samples using ABS P430 material. Due to the effect of anisotropy in both the mechanical properties, shape and dimensional accuracy, authors decided to analyze the effect of building direction on the dimensional accuracy of the above mentioned samples. For this purpose, have been manufactured appropriate physical models which were placed on the working platform of the machine in three typical angles: 0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees. Measurements of geometric dimensions have been performed on the CMM Prismo Navigator machine. Research results confirmed that the printing direction has a significant impact on the dimensional accuracy of manufactured parts. It can be conclude that Fused Deposition Modeling technology can be used to build precise casting models.