Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a 3D printing technology in which the melt extrusion method is used for the production of thermoplastic parts. 3D printed thermoplastic materials produced by this method suffer from a particularly significant problem, however, namely poor interfacial bond formation that results in weak mechanical performance. This work proposes a thermal process to enhance the strength of the interlayer adhesion of 3D printed PEI thermoplastic materials. The annealing process was determined as a suitable post-processing procedure and was the focus of this work. Annealing was carried out in an oven at temperatures of 220, 225, 230, and 235 °C; it was determined that annealing performed at 225 °C in particular was highly desirable in terms of enhancing interlayer adhesion strength. In this work, characterization (FTIR, XRD, and SEM) and mechanical (tensile, bending, and hardness) analyses of 3D printed PEI were performed to better understand the strength of interlayer adhesion and overcome a mechanical performance limitation of this material. According to the tensile, bending, and hardness test results, the greatest improvements were found as increase of 10, 5, and 12%, respectively.

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Material type and part deposition orientation are two important concerns in additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing methods utilized by the industry are generally based on polylactic acid (PLA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) materials using the fused deposition modelling (FDM) method. However, in present commercial applications, besides extensive use of PLA/ABS, their low strength has emerged as their biggest disadvantage. However, polyetherimide (PEI)/ULTEM 1010 parts represent high-performance engineering thermoplastics and offer superior mechanical properties with high thermal stability. On the other hand, selection of an appropriate raster angle orientation for single- and multi-oriented layers is also of considerable interest. A comprehensive study has been conducted herein on the building of a part using the FDM method using PEI/ULTEM 1010, and attempts have been made to identify the effects of raster angle in single- (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°) and multi-oriented (0/90°, 30°/−60°, 45°/−45°, 0°/90°/45°/−45°) layers. PEI specimens were manufactured via 3D printer, and the mechanical behaviour (tensile, bending and hardness) of the printed parts was correlated with their structures. Morphological properties of tensile fracture surface of 3D printed samples were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Analysis indicated that a 0° part deposition orientation offers optimal mechanical properties because of the bonding structure.