A scientific base for optimising energy consumption and performance in 3D printing

Fused Deposition Modelling is the most widely used 3D printing technologies. To contribute towards net zero manufacturing, the purpose of this research was to establish the scientific base for reducing energy consumption in fused deposition modelling by studying the influence of processing parameters on energy requirements, unit process Scope 2 emissions and product quality. The vision was to define the knowledge base for energy-efficient 3D printing. Seven main processing parameters were investigated using the Taguchi Design of Experiments. The functional unit for evaluation was a tensile testing component with a required tensile strength. The selection of optimum process parameters for energy-efficient 3D printing for a defined tensile strength was done by comparing tensile strength, energy consumption and surface roughness in the fused deposition modelling. Differential Scanning Calorimetry was used to determine the temperature response of the build material and to inform the selection of printing temperatures. The results of this study show that maintaining the heated bed temperature contributes within 60–70 % of the total energy consumption. The scientific approach to minimise the energy consumption is to hold the bed temperature 11.49 °C below the glass temperature and the nozzle temperature is significantly above the melting temperature to minimise voids and maximise the interlayer bonding. These findings suggest that selecting optimum 3D printing parameters to minimise energy consumption can lead to a 48–72 % reduction in energy consumption compared to average or maximum energy consumption in all build cases.