Experimental Investigation of Surface Roughness for Fused Deposition Modeled Part with Different Angular Orientation

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a filament based rapid prototyping system which provides fabricated real parts with multiple production-grade materials, such as ABS-M30, PC, PPSF and PC-ABS blend. Fused deposition modelling technology, essentially fabricates parts via layer manufacturing process. More complex 3D physical models can be efficiently fabricated by this technology without any geometric limitation; a remarkable reduction in production life cycle has been achieved. However, due to the nature of Layer Manufacturing process, stair case effect is unavoidable which results in poor surface finish. In this paper, the surface roughness of a model having surfaces at different angles is analyzed to understand the effect of different angled surfaces on the surface roughness of the FDM modelled part.