FUSED DEPOSITION

MODELLING PRINCIPLE

SANDEEP RAJ
153513
MANUFACTURING
ENGG.
Rapid Manufacturing Processes

INTRODUCTION
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive
manufacturing technology commonly used for modeling,
prototyping, and production applications.
FDM works on an "additive" principle by laying down
material in layers; a plastic filament or metal wire is
unwound from a coil and supplies material to produce a part.
The technology was developed by S. Scott Crump in the late
1980s and was commercialized in 1990.
The term fused deposition modeling and its abbreviation to
FDM are trademarked by Stratasys Inc.
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PROCESS
Main part of a FDM is a movable (x-y) nozzle.
Molten polymeric material comes through this nozzle
which gets deposited on the substrate.
Workhead is controlled in the x-y plane during each
layer.
Build material is heated slightly above its melting
point so it can solidifies easily.
One layer will cold welds to previous layer.
Part is fabricated from the base up, using a layer-bylayer procedure.
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BASIC PRINCIPLES
Loading and liquification of material.
Application of pressure to move the material
through the nozzle.
Extrusion.
Plotting according to a predefined path and in a
controlled manner.
Bonding of the material to itself or secondary build
materials to form a coherent solid structure.
Inclusion of support structures to enable complex
geometrical features.

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MATERIAL LOADING
The FDMs can be equipped to build with investment
casting wax, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
plastic, medical grade ABS thermoplastic and Elastomer.
If the material is in a liquid form, then the ideal approach
is to pump this material.
The most suitable methods of supply are in powder form,
or where the material is fed in as a continuous filament.
Screw feeding can be used to generate the pressure
needed to push the semi-solid material through the
nozzle.

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LIQUIFICATION
Heat is applied by heater coils wrapped around the
chamber and this heat is applied to maintain a constant
temperature in the melt.
The build material is heated slightly above
(approximately 0.5 C) its melting temperature.
It is done so that it solidifies within a very short time
(approximately 0.1 s) after extrusion and cold-welds to
the previous layer.
The filaments are heated into a semi-liquid state and
continually forced (extruded) through the tip of head.

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EXTRUSION
Material flow through the nozzle is controlled by the
pressure drop between the chamber and the surrounding
atmosphere.
Archimedean screw extruder is used to describe the
extrusion mechanism.
The volumetric flow caused by the screw in the nozzle,
known as drag flow QD
.
The volumetric flow due to pressure flow in the channel is
Qp.
In order for material to extrude from the output nozzle,
the pressure flow QP must exceed the drag flow QD to
give a total flow.
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SOLIDIFICATION
Once the material is extruded, it should ideally remain
the same shape and size.
Gravity and surface tension may cause the material to
change shape.
The material may shrink upon drying and cooling, as
well as possibly becoming porous.
This can be minimized by ensuring the temperature
differential between the chamber and the surrounding
atmosphere is kept to a minimum.
This can be done by use of a controlled environmental
chamber when building the part.
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POSITIONAL CONTROL
Plotting must be coordinated with the extrusion rate to
ensure smooth and consistent deposition.
Any change in direction result in a deceleration
followed by acceleration.
The corresponding material flow rate must match this
change in speed ,otherwise, too much or too little
material will be deposited in a particular region.
While cheaper systems often make use of belts driven
by stepper motors, higher cost systems typically use
servo drives with leadscrew technology.

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BONDING
For heat-based systems there must be sufficient
residual heat energy to activate the surfaces of the
adjacent regions, causing bonding.
If there is insufficient energy, the regions may adhere,
but there would be a distinct boundary between new
and previously deposited material.
This can represent a fracture surface where the
materials can be easily separated.
Too much energy may cause the previously deposited
material to flow, which in turn may result in a poorly
defined part.
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SUPPORT MATERIAL

More recent FDM systems include two nozzles, one for

part material and other for support material.
In FDM, a supporting structure is required to form a base
to mount the part and to support any over hanging
features.
FDM offers two styles of supports, break away support
structures (BASS) and water-soluble support structures
(WaterWorks.)
The support material is relatively of poor quality and can
be broken easily once the complete part is deposited and
is removed from substrate.

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Fused deposition
modelling
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FDM 3000
by Stratasys
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COMPARISION WITH OTHER PROCESSES

SLA and PolyJet use photopolymers that can be sensitive
to moisture. FDM prototypes are unaffected by moisture.
They retain their original mechanical properties and
dimensional accuracy.
For common tip sizes and build parameters, the
minimum feature size ranges from 0.016 to 0.024 in
which is larger than that of SLA and PolyJet.
FDM offers a wide range of build envelopes. Maxum,
the biggest, offers parts sizes up to 23.6 x 19.7 x 23.6
inches. Prodigy Plus, the smallest, has an envelope of 8 x
8 x 12 inches.
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ADVANTAGES

High strength
It is cost-effective
Waterproof
It can use ABS(Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)
which is a common thermoplastic polymer. Its glass
transition temperature is approximately 105 C (221
F)) material for its impact resistance and toughness,
and multiple material colors are available

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DISADVANTAGES
Accuracy is relatively low and is difficult to build
parts with complicated details.
Poor strength in vertical direction.
Slow for building a mass part.

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THANK YOU

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