Post-processing of FDM 3D-printed polylactic acid parts by laser beam cutting

Moradi, M, Karami Moghadam, M, Shamsborhan, M, Bodaghi, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-944X and Falavandi, H, 2020. Post-processing of FDM 3D-printed polylactic acid parts by laser beam cutting. Polymers, 12 (3): 550. ISSN 2073-4360

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Abstract

In this paper, the post-processing of 3D-printed poly lactic acid (PLA) parts is investigated. Workpieces are manufactured by fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, while they may have defects in some areas such as edges. A post-processing is introduced here for 3D-printed samples by low power CO2 laser. The thickness of the FDM samples are 3.2 mm and printed by optimum conditions. Effects of process parameters such as focal plane position (−3.2–3.2 mm), laser power (20–40 W), and laser cutting speed (1–13 mm/s) are examined based on the design of experiments (DOE). Geometrical features of the kerf; top and bottom kerf; taper; ratio of top to the bottom kerf are considered as output responses. An analysis of the experimental results by statistical software is conducted to survey the effects of process parameters and to obtain regression equations. By optimizing of the laser cutting process; an appropriate kerf quality is obtained and also optimum input parameters are suggested. Experimental verification tests show a good agreement between empirical results and statistical predictions. The best optimum sample with 1.19 mm/s cutting speed, 36.49 W power and 0.53 mm focal plane position shows excellent physical features after the laser cutting process when 276.9 μm top and 261.5 μm bottom kerf width is cut by laser.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Polymers
Creators:	Moradi, M., Karami Moghadam, M., Shamsborhan, M., Bodaghi, M. and Falavandi, H.
Publisher:	MDPI
Date:	3 March 2020
Volume:	12
Number:	3
ISSN:	2073-4360
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/polym12030550 DOI 1304529 Other
Rights:	© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	20 Mar 2020 12:13
Last Modified:	27 Apr 2020 07:52
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/39421

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