Influence of Building Parameters on the Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Polycarbonate Fused Deposition Modeling Parts

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is one of the most important additive manufacturing technologies nowadays. However, there is a need to get more insight in the relationship between the process parameters and the final performance. Several studies have already identified some of these relationships, considering only the mechanical behavior of uniaxial tensile specimen under static loading. Yet, FDM technology is also designed to produce final parts that might be used in machinery or transportation applications. In such cases, dynamic loading is the most common situation and should be considered. The present article focuses on understanding the influence of three process parameters (nozzle diameter, number of contours, and raster-to-raster air gap) on the mechanical behavior under dynamic loading at specified conditions. A dynamic mechanical analysis apparatus has been used to characterize the polycarbonate mechanical behavior. On the other hand, a Taguchi approach and an analysis of variance have been used in order to quantify the influence of the parameters on such mechanical behavior.