THE INFLUENCE OF CONTOURING ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF FUSED DEPOSITION MODELLING PROCESSED PARTS

The Fused Deposition Modelling process is a highly efficient Rapid Prototyping approach that makes it possible to rapidly generate even much complicated parts. Unfortunately, the Fused Deposition Modelling is affected by several parameters, whose setting may have a strong impact on the components resistance. This paper is dedicated to the study of the effects generated by the Fused Deposition Modelling production parameters on the tensile strength and on the stiffness of the generated components, tackling the question both from experimental and from numerical points of view. For this purpose, an analytical model was developed, which is able to predict the resistance and the stiffness properties, based on the number of contours deposited around the component edge and on the setting of the other main parameters of the deposition process.