Optimization of FDM process parameters for ABS components: Effects on printing time, part weight, and vibrational loss factor using Integrated TOPSIS-CoCoSo and decision tree approaches

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) has been widely studied for the manufacture of light-weight polymer components. However, the process parameter selection significantly effects the production efficiency, material consumption and vibration damping performance. In the present study, the effects of slice height (0.17–0.33 mm), part density (30%–90%), shell thickness (0.8–2.4 mm), and print speed (50–150 mm/s) on the printing time (PT), part weight (PW), and vibrational loss factor (LF) of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) components fabricated through FFF were investigated. Experimental design was done using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array and the results were analyzed by signal to noise ratio analysis. The CRITIC weighting method was coupled with TOPSIS and CoCoSo ranking techniques for multi-criteria optimization and a Decision Tree algorithm was used to determine the most impactful process parameters. The experimental testing outcomes showed a variation in printing time from 34 to 87 min, part weight from 7.85 to 15.78 g and loss factor from 0.044 to 0.143. By CRITIC, the weights of printing time, part weight and loss factor were 29%, 31%, and 40%, respectively, indicating that vibration damping performance was the most important. The results of the TOPSIS and CoCoSo techniques always showed that Trial 8 (0.33 mm slice height, 60% part density, 0.8 mm shell thickness, and 150 mm/s print speed) was the best choice, with a closeness coefficient of 0.9098 and the highest evaluation score. Sensitivity study resulted in a good agreement among the ranking methods with correlation coefficients > 0.95, demonstrating the robustness of the ranking produced. The Decision Tree analysis further confirmed the relevance of the chosen process parameters. The study demonstrates that properly optimized ABS components can simultaneously achieve reduced manufacturing time, controlled material usage and improved vibration damping characteristics, thus making them suitable for passive vibration attenuation applications in automotive, aerospace, electronic housing, and lightweight structural components.