Technical-Economical Study on the Optimization of FDM Parameters for the Manufacture of PETG and ASA Parts

The article presents the results of the technical-economical study regarding the optimization of fused deposition modeling (FDM) parameters (the height of the layer deposited in one pass-L_h and the filling percentage-I_d) for the manufacture of Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) and Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA) parts. To carry out this technical-economical study, was used the fundamental principle of value analysis, which consists of maximizing the ratio between <i>V_i</i> and <i>C_p</i>, where <i>V_i</i> represents the mechanical characteristic, and <i>C_p</i> represents the production cost. The results of the study show that for tensile specimens made of PETG, the parameter that significantly influences the results of the <i>V_i</i>/<i>C_p</i> ratios is the height of the layer deposited in one pass, (L_h), and in the case of the compression specimens made of PETG, the parameter that significantly influences the results of the <i>V_i</i>/<i>C_p</i> ratios is filling percentage (I_d). In the case of specimens manufactured via FDM from ASA, the parameter that decisively influences the results of the <i>V_i</i>/<i>C_p</i> ratios of the tensile and compression specimens is the filling percentage (I_d). By performing optimization of the process parameters with multiple responses, we identified the optimal parameters for FDM manufacturing of parts from PETG and ASA: the height of the layer deposited in one pass, L_h = 0.20 mm, and the filling percentage, I_d = 100%.