Numerical Investigation of Temperature History of Fused Deposition Modeled Materials and Connections to Morphology

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has seen a rapid rise in popularity and adoption in recent decades as the technologies matured. The inherent advantages of additive manufacturing are more commonly being found to outweigh the drawbacks, the largest of which are the inferior mechanical strength and anisotropy compared to materials manufactured with traditional means. Until recently, fused deposition modeling was primarily a manufacturing method for the hobbyist or for prototyping a design. As high performance thermoplastics such as poly-ether-ether-ketone were introduced, fused deposition modeling became a potentially viable method for manufacturing load bearing components. The focus of this thesis was in the development of a virtual printing model to simulate the heat transfer process within a component during manufacture. The model was used to explore the thermal profile of physical samples printed during the project. Changes in microstructure measurements through the samples can be connected to observed changes in thermal profiles of these regions. The work within this thesis is a step in developing a physics-based, inclusive design guideline for FDM components, laying the framework for future studies and extending capabilities previously developed for this project.