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Optimizing process parameters of a material extrusion–based overprinting technique for the fabrication of tensile specimens

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Abstract

Injection molding (IM) and additive manufacturing (AM) have been widely used in the manufacturing industry because IM excels at mass production and AM allows for a great deal of design freedom. In this context, a novel hybrid manufacturing (HM) combining both has been investigated. The tensile performances of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA) specimens were studied and compared via the Taguchi method using an overprinting technique. In contrast to the extensively studied overmolding technique, we utilized AM through material extrusion to directly fabricate onto injection-molded substrates. Three parameters in this manufacturing process were studied: infill density, printing speed, and extrusion temperature. Taguchi’s L9 array, which has nine runs with three repeated specimens for each, was used to create a total of twenty-seven specimens with different processing settings in one material. All finished specimens’ dimensions were subjected to the ASTM D638-III standard. The results showed that a combination of higher infill density (75%), midprinting speed (70 mm/s), and high extrusion temperature (210 °C) was required for greater tensile strength in PLA specimens. The parameters of 75% infill density, 100 mm/s printing speed, and 220 °C extrusion temperature were required for the ABS specimens to have an exceptional tensile strength. This research provides a fundamental understanding of this promising manufacturing technology, which has the potential to produce functional items with exceptional properties such as flexural behavior, impact behavior, and certain custom-tailored features.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Government of Ireland International Education Scholarship from the Higher Education Authority, the COVID Support Funding from the Higher Education Authority and D/FHERIS (The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science), and the President Doctoral Funding from Athlone Campus, Technological University of Shannon: Midland and Midwest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PRISM Research Institute, Athlone Campus, Technological University of Shannon: Midland and Midwest, Athlone, N37 HD68, Ireland

    Ke Gong, Handai Liu, Han Xu, Zhi Cao, Evert Fuenmayor & Ian Major

  2. Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, Athlone Campus, Technological University of Shannon: Midland and Midwest, Athlone, N37 HD68, Ireland

    Joseph Coyne & Evert Fuenmayor

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  1. Ke Gong
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by Ke Gong, Handai Liu, Han Xu, Joseph Coyne, Zhi Cao, Evert Fuenmayor, and Ian Major; data collection was performed by Ke Gong and Ian Major; analysis was performed by Ke Gong and Ian Major. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ke Gong and Ian Major. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Gong, K., Liu, H., Xu, H. et al. Optimizing process parameters of a material extrusion–based overprinting technique for the fabrication of tensile specimens. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 127, 3513–3524 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11720-7

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