| Additive manufacturing is a fabrication technique that is used to build components by depositing material in a layer-by-layer manner. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is one of the additive manufacturing techniques which is widely used for prototyping and production applications of thermoplastic components. In load bearing applications, the flexural and compression forces often coexist. In order to avoid failure under these loads, it is essential to study the mechanical properties of the components fabricated by FDM. The main focus of this research is to study the mechanical properties of the fabricated components and to comprehend their dependence on various build parameters. It has been observed from a series of flexural and compression tests that the parts fabricated by FDM have anisotropic properties and this anisotropy was not due to the material in use, but due to the fabrication process itself. In this thesis study, Ultem 9085 material was used to fabricate coupons with variation in build parameters which include build direction, raster angle and air gap. A full factorial experimental design was used to study the individual and combined effects of these build parameters on the mechanical properties of the coupons. Solid and sparse build styles were used for coupon fabrication. Mechanical properties investigated include flexural yield strength, flexural modulus, flexural strength/mass ratio, compressive yield strength, compressive modulus and compressive strength /mass ratio. An experiment-based qualitative reasoning is used to comprehend how the mechanical properties are affected by build parameters. |
