Predicting thermal field evolution in fused deposition manufacturing

Purpose Additive manufacturing has become a widely adopted technology for rapid prototyping and customized production. Understanding the fundamental phenomena involved in this process and enhancing the ability to model these phenomena are crucial to optimizing production and minimizing potential defects. A key challenge is managing a non-uniform temperature distribution, which can lead to thermally induced delamination and the formation of residual stresses. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a numerical model capable of accurately predicting the evolution of the thermal field during the fused deposition manufacturing (FDM). Design/methodology/approach This work presents a transient thermal model for FDM that couples a finite element (FE) solver with a custom G-code emulator, allowing simulations to run directly from standard G-code files with userdefined spatial and temporal resolution. The model accounts for the dynamic geometry and boundary conditions inherent to the layer-by-layer deposition process. To enable accurate simulation, experimental procedures are developed and applied to determine temperature-dependent material properties for commonly used FDM materials. Findings A comprehensive validation campaign was conducted, including controlled tests and thermal measurements on specimens with varying infill strategies. The comparison between predicted and experimentally measured temperature profiles shows excellent agreement across different print stages and infill densities. These results demonstrate the model’s capability to accurately capture the evolving thermal field under realistic manufacturing scenarios, highlighting its sensitivity to infill design parameters. Originality/value The key innovation lies in the seamless integration of a state-of-the-art FE solver with a G-code emulator, enabling direct simulation from standard G-code inputs without the need for manual preprocessing or geometric reconstruction. The model incorporates realistic deposition sequences, process-specific boundary conditions and temperature-dependent material behavior. Implemented within a widely used open-source FEM framework, the tool is designed for extensibility and transparency, providing a robust foundation for future community-driven development and multiphysics coupling. This contribution thus offers both a novel methodological advance and a practical, open platform for simulating thermal phenomena in FDM.