Low-cost infrared thermal management for dimensional stability in fused pellet modeling of ABS

Abstract Thermal management remains a persistent challenge in extrusion-based additive manufacturing of amorphous polymers such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), where rapid cooling and steep thermal gradients often induce warpage, delamination, and print failure. This study introduces a low-cost, lamp-based infrared (IR) heating system integrated with real-time, non-contact temperature monitoring via an MLX90614 sensor to enhance dimensional stability in fused pellet modeling (FPM). Two experimental series were conducted: (i) flat plates printed under varying IR and bed heating conditions, and (ii) thin-walled structures fabricated using directional radiant heating while maintaining a constant bed temperature of 90 $$^\\circ $$ C. Results indicate that spatial thermal uniformity—not merely average platform temperature—is critical for suppressing warpage in planar geometries. A bilateral IR configuration that maintained the deposition interface near 108 $$^\\circ $$ C and the build surface at 90 $$^\\circ $$ C produced fully adhered, distortion-free plates. For vertical walls, successful printing required a controlled axial thermal gradient: freshly deposited material remained within 90–95 $$^\\circ $$ C to ensure interfacial continuity, while underlying layers stabilized between 63 $$^\\circ $$ C and 75 $$^\\circ $$ C to prevent heat accumulation and lateral buckling. The system enabled reliable thermal tracking and demonstrated feasibility for retrofit integration into open-chamber FPM platforms. These findings underscore the potential of targeted IR heating as a practical strategy to improve geometric fidelity and process reliability in industrial-scale polymer additive manufacturing.