Multiobjective optimization of tribological characteristics of 3D printed texture surfaces for ABS and PLA Polymers

Abstract

In this paper, the 3D-printed textured samples are fabricated using fused deposition modelling (FDM) process for two different polymers such as ABS and PLA. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the influence of printing parameters on the tribological characteristics of 3D-printed textured samples. Here, the four major FDM printing parameters such as layer thickness (LT), nozzle temperature (NT), line width (LW) and printing speed (PS) are considered for the study. Whereas, the tribological characteristics of 3D-printed textured sample such as wear rate and friction coefficient are considered as output responses. The present experimental study is carried out based on the response surface methodology to evaluate the effect of these FDM printing parameters on the tribological characteristics of textured samples. These experimental results show that the line width is the most significant printing parameter followed by layer thickness. Whereas, the printing speed is the third most significant printing parameter. Furthermore, the optimized value of printing parameters for ABS and PLA are evaluated by using grey relational analysis. For the ABS polymer, the optimal value of printing parameters as layer thickness = 0.1 mm, nozzle temperature = 230°C, line width = 0.28 mm and printing speed = 75 mm/s. Whereas, for the PLA, the optimal value of printing parameters are: layer thickness = 0.14 mm, nozzle temperature = 220°C, line width = 0.31 mm, and printing speed = 50 mm/s. In addition, However, the wear rate first decreases with the layer thickness and nozzle temperature and then increases. The wear rate linearly increases with the printing speed.