Experimental investigations into abrasive flow machining (AFM) of 3D printed ABS and PLA parts

Abstract

Purpose The surface roughness of additively manufactured parts is usually found to be high. This limits their use in industrial and biomedical applications. Therefore, these parts required post-processing to improve their surface quality. The purpose of this study is to finish three-dimensional (3D) printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA) parts using abrasive flow machining (AFM). Design/methodology/approach A hydrogel-based abrasive media has been developed to finish 3D printed parts. The developed abrasive media has been characterized for its rheology and thermal stability using sweep tests, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The ABS and PLA cylindrical parts have been prepared using fused deposition modeling (FDM) and finished using AFM. The experiments were designed using Taguchi (L9 OA) method. The effect of process parameters such as extrusion pressure (EP), layer thickness (LT) and abrasive concentration (AC) was investigated on the amount of material removed (MR) and percentage improvement in surface roughness (%ΔRa). Findings The developed abrasive media was found to be effective for finishing FDM printed parts using AFM. The microscope images of unfinished and finished showed a significant improvement in surface topography of additively manufactures parts after AFM. The results reveal that AC is the most significant parameter during the finishing of ABS parts. However, EP and AC are the most significant parameters for MR and %ΔRa, respectively, during the finishing of PLA parts. Practical implications The FDM technology has applications in the biomedical, electronics, aeronautics and defense sectors. PLA has good biodegradable and biocompatible properties, so widely used in biomedical applications. The ventilator splitters fabricated using FDM have a profile similar to the shape used in the present study. Research limitations/implications The present study is focused on finishing FDM printed cylindrical parts using AFM. Future research may be done on the AFM of complex shapes and freeform surfaces printed using different additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. Originality/value An abrasive media consists of xanthan gum, locust bean gum and fumed silica has been developed and characterized. An experimental study has been performed by combining printing parameters of FDM and finishing parameters of AFM. A comparative analysis in MR and %ΔRa has been reported between 3D printed ABS and PLA parts.

A Review of Multi-Material 3D Printing of Functional Materials via Vat Photopolymerization

“…The improvement of mechanical properties in such materials requires fine temperature control, knowledge of the filaments' prior processing, chemistry, temperature dependence of viscosity, and good understanding of their material chemistry and thermal stability [356][357][358][359]. In addition, thermal shrinkage of the materials and their poor surface finish, which may require expensive and elaborate post-processing steps, limit the resolution of the materials [42,360]. In contrast, vat photopolymerization involves the input of liquid resins which are conveniently processable, mostly at room temperature; the reacting monomers form polymer networks at a molecular level, which can significantly improve the multilayer interactions, overall surface finish, material resolution, precise layer thickness control, and mechanical properties.…”

“…The improvement of mechanical properties in such materials requires fine temperature control, knowledge of the filaments' prior processing, chemistry, temperature dependence of viscosity, and good understanding of their material chemistry and thermal stability [356][357][358][359]. In addition, thermal shrinkage of the materials and their poor surface finish, which may require expensive and elaborate post-processing steps, limit the resolution of the materials [42,360].…”

“…Additive manufacturing, often termed 3D printing, is a comprehensive materials development technique which has gained signification attention following its discovery in the 1980s [1][2][3][4][5][6][35][36][37]. At present this technology is experiencing significant growth and can now be applied using a wide range of methods, including material jetting [38,39], binder jetting [40,41], material extrusion [42][43][44][45][46], powder bed fusion [47,48], vat photopolymerization [37,[49][50][51][52][53], and sheet lamination [35,36,54,55].…”

A comprehensive investigation of abrasive barrel finishing on hardness and manufacturability of laser-based powder bed fusion hollow components

“…The biggest advantages of this process are its simple operation, no need for expert operators and no constraint of the sample shape or clamp-free (jig and fixtures). Besides, almost all materials can be processed with this technique [17][18][19]. Ferchow et al [20] investigated abrasive flow machining for polishing internal surfaces of LB-PBF tubular components.…”

Investigations of personalized and sustainable approach of oral drug delivery systems through additive manufacturing

“…FDM is a versatile, affordable and most preferred 3DP technique in the pharmaceutical arena (Pandey et al , 2020; Dixit et al , 2021). Its wide range of printing temperature, safe operation, sufficient strength of printlet and less susceptibility of drug degradation vindicates the invincibility of FDM in personalized medication (Cailleaux et al , 2021).…”