Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Experimental investigation of FDM process parameters using Taguchi

analysis
Vishal Wankhede a,⇑, Darshit Jagetiya a, Akshata Joshi a, Rakesh Chaudhari b
a
Department of Industrial Engineering, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar 382007, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar 382007, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Rapid Manufacturing (RM) is an Additive Layer Manufacturing Process (ALMP) where intricate engi-
Received 30 July 2019 neered models are prepared from their Computer Aided Design (CAD) models by addition of material
Accepted 17 September 2019 in a layered fashion. With Increasing key emerging technologies rapid manufacturing has gained much
Available online xxxx
focus in the modern era. Additive manufacturing process named Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) has
remarkable applications in several industries. This paper analyses the influence of the input experimental
Keywords: parameters viz. infill density, layer thickness and support style on response parameters viz. build time of
Rapid manufacturing
part and Surface roughness on Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) polymer. Taguchi’s L8 Orthogonal
FDM
ANOVA
Array (OA) design is used perform the experiments. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is established to under-
Optimization stand the significant characteristics of the process variables. The set of input variables has been deter-
CAD mined for individual output response variable.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International conference
on Materials and Manufacturing Methods.

1. Introduction thickness. It is considered to be the most important technical

Rapid Manufacturing is an evolving technology in manufactur-
ing field wherein fabrication of 3-dimensional models is done
using Computer-aided design data. It has been viewed as pioneer
in the manufacturing field from its ability to produce intricate
designs as one part. 3D printing technology has potential to build
3D object sliced layers by layers using computer control. Funda-
mentally extrusion process is considered to be the 3D printing
technology also known as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).
FDM extrudes material to produce layers by nozzle. Materials used
for fused deposition modelling process are thermoplastics poly-
mers viz. PLA-Poly Lactic Acid, PC-Polycarbonate and ABS-
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. This study reveals experimental
investigation of FDM process parameters using Taguchi analysis.
It investigates the influence of the input experimental parameters
viz. infill density (build pattern), layer thickness and support style
on response parameters viz. build time of part and the Surface
roughness on ABS; a thermoplastic polymer. The thickness of each
layer measured along vertical axis in AM process known as Layer
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: vishal.wankhede06@gmail.com (V. Wankhede).
parameter which influences model quality. The strategy for creat-
ing internal structure is termed as Build pattern. Structure support
style defines the fill pattern. Abdullah et al. [1] studied topological
and mechanical properties of ABS printed parts considering impact
of layer thickness and printing orientation. Mixed design was per-
formed taking two levels of printing orientation viz. XY and YZ and
three levels of layer thickness viz. 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mm. ANOVA
resulted into significant effect of both the parameters chosen for
the study. Manikandan et al. [2] considered parameters raster
width, contour style, raster angle and air gap under study to eval-
uate the impact of the FDM process parameters on mechanical
strength and surface finish of mixture of ABS-PC. Taguchi analysis
was conducted and contour style identified as top influential
parameter for surface roughness and raster angle over flexural
strength. Nidagundi et al. [3] carried out process parameters opti-
mization using Taguchi’s L9 Orthogonal Array (OA). Selected pro-
cess parameters are fill angle, layer thickness and orientation
angle. Dimensional tolerance, surface roughness, ultimate tensile
strength, and build time were taken as output response parame-
ters. S/N ratio was computed to find optimum setting. Kumar
et al. [4] analysed the impact of five parameters on surface quality
of ABS built parts by FDM. They used Taguchi analysis and per-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.078
2214-7853/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International conference on Materials and Manufacturing Methods.

Please cite this article as: V. Wankhede, D. Jagetiya, A. Joshi et al., Experimental investigation of FDM process parameters using Taguchi analysis, Materials
Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.078
2 V. Wankhede et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

formed ANOVA to understand the effect of treated parameter.
Findings revealed smooth surface achieved at layer thickness value
of 0.254 mm, negative air gap of 0.01 mm and raster width of
0.508 mm. The study depicts impact of few process parameters
on surface roughness. Further concluded that voids among layers
and thin layer minimizes roughness on the surface. Farzad and
Godfrey [5] did study on optimization of FDM process parameters
with the help of grouping method. Analysis was performed to find
out correlation between process parameters and tensile strength.
They performed trail runs considering part orientation and raster
angle. Differential evolution was used to compute optimal param-
eter setting. Sood et al. [7] reported the effect of various factors i.e.
orientation angle of part build, slice height, raster angle, space
between raster and width of the raster. They considered three
levels of each factors along with interaction effect. This study
was done on the dimensional accuracy of the FDM based 3D
printed part. The levels of optimum factors and significant factors
along its interactions was found using DOE tool Taguchi analysis.
Nancharaiah et al. [8] demonstrated the Taguchi’s technique with
three levels of each factor to analyse the influence of raster width,
raster angle, air gap and layer thickness on optimum dimensional
tolerance and surface finish of FDM part. Finding shows huge
impact of raster width and height of the slice on surface finish
and dimensional accuracy of the printed part. On other side raster
angle is insignificant and air gap has significance influence on
dimensional accuracy as well as surface finish of parts built by
FDM. From the above literature, it has been observed that rough-
ness and print time are the most important parameter to be stud-
ied which affect part quality. Optimization of input parameters like
Slice height, infill density and support style are decided to achieve
minimum build time and surface roughness using Taguchi’s L8 OA
design. The influence of considered process parameters were ana-
lyzed using ANOVA. Moreover, percentage influence of each pro-
cess parameters were discussed to get required part features.
2. Experimental details
Design optimization is efficiently done by the Taguchi tech-
nique which is the most widely used method. It has been broadly
used for process optimization and product design. Taguchi method
experimental plan simplification and feasibility study of process
parameters interaction. In this study, input parameters taken into
consideration are layer thickness, infill density and support style.
Layer thickness is the measure of each successive height of mate-
Table 1
Process parameters with levels.
Input Parameter Level-1 Level-2
A = Layer Thickness (in mm) 0.254 0.3302
B = infill density Sparse high density Sparse low density
C = Support Style Sparse Smart
rial as they are being stacked on one another in an FDM process.
Infill density sometimes called build pattern is a significant param-
eter. It influences some vital features of parts developed like
weight, print time, strength etc. 3D printer has three infill density
levels viz. sparse high density, solid and sparse low density. Sup-
port style also called fill pattern is significant since it decides the
required print time. To study the influence of process parameter
influence on built parts, cuboid specimens of volume 50
30

3 mm were printed under different setting of input parameters.
Samples printed were manufactured on Dimension SST 1200es
3D printer machine with ABS as build material. STL models were
cut and tool paths were created in the fused deposition modelling
system. Afterward, for each STL model build time were estimated
using virtual testing. Also, physical testing done for measurements
of surface finish using Mitutoyo SJ-400 tester. The selected levels of
input process parameters are presented in Table 1. Full factorial
design of two levels is used as DOE trials using three input param-
eters providing 23 experiments. Taguchi’s L8 OA design is consid-
ered to perform the analysis and responses collected as shown in
Table 2. Fig. 1 show cuboids specimens created by FDM process.
Taguchi L8 orthogonal array has been used for experiment pur-
pose. Taguchi method involves optimization of process parameters
by robust experimental design.
The aim of the presented study is:
1. To optimize the input parameters for the individual response.
To compute the contribution in percentage of each factor for
each response.
Surface roughness and Build time were selected as responses
whereas layer thickness, infill density and support style were con-
sidered as deciding parameters for optimization of results.
Signal-to-Noise ratio is a quality parameter used to evaluate the
effect of input factors on the responses. In the current study, all the
output responses are Quality Characteristics (QCH) of smaller-the-
better type. For evaluating S/N ratios smaller-the-better type QCH
has been used which is shown in Eq. (1).
!
1X n
S=N smaller-the-better ¼ 10 log10 Y i2 ð1Þ
n i¼1
Where, i = 1, 2, 3. . .n
Y = Values of output responses
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Build time
The time required to create part in FDM process defines Build
time.
Analysis of variance for build time is shown in Table 3. From
Table 3, it can be inferred that layer thickness has the highest

Table 2
Generation of L8 (23) Taguchi orthogonal array design.

Run Layer Thickness (in mm) Infill density Support Style Responses
Build time Surface Roughness
1 0.254 Sparse High Density Sparse 16 8.319
2 0.254 Sparse High Density Smart 15 11.568
3 0.254 Sparse Low Density Sparse 14 7.8
4 0.254 Sparse Low Density Smart 14 13.112
5 0.3302 Sparse High Density Sparse 12 23.243
6 0.3302 Sparse High Density Smart 12 27.037
7 0.3302 Sparse Low Density Sparse 12 27.642
8 0.3302 Sparse Low Density Smart 12 26.724

Please cite this article as: V. Wankhede, D. Jagetiya, A. Joshi et al., Experimental investigation of FDM process parameters using Taguchi analysis, Materials
Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.078
 V. Wankhede et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Fig. 1. Cuboid specimens produced from FDM process.

Table 3
ANOVA for Build time.

Source Sum of Square Degree of Freedom Mean Square F-value P-value contribution
Layer thickness 15.1250 1 15.1250 40.33 0.003 Significant 84.62%
Infill density 1.1250 1 1.1250 3.00 0.158 Insignificant 6.29%
Support Style 0.1250 1 0.1250 0.33 0.595 Insignificant 0.70%
Error 1.50 4 0.3750 8.39%
Total 17.8750 7 100%

impact on build time (84.62%) followed by infill density (6.29%)
and support style (0.70%). The significance of each process param-
eter is observed using P and F value at 95% confidence interval.
Lower P value, i.e., less than 0.05 justify the significant effect of
considered parameters on the experimental output [13]. Layer
thickness has been identified as the most significant input param-
eter for build time. Increase in the layer thickness reduces layers
required to print the part. And as the number of layer reduced, it
will lead to reduction in motion of nozzle head which inturn
reduces built time. This is due to additional slices are created to
achieve collective model thickness. More slices define lesser layer
thickness which allows extrusion head to create extra movement
to fabricate the design part. Also, after fabrication of each layer
extruder nozzle would itself take few seconds to for cleaning. Thus
decrease in Layer thickness significantly increase the build time
[6].
The S/N ratio for each level of considered factor for response
build time is shown in Table 4.
Table 3 shows that optimal combination to obtain least build
time is layer thickness at level 2, infill density at level 2 and sup-
port style at level 2 (A2B2C2). Thus, optimal condition to achieve
least build time is as follows:
Layer Thickness (in mm) – 0.3302
Infill density – Sparse low density
Support Style – Smart
3.2. Surface roughness
In FDM process, part fabricated needs to be check for its surface
characteristic which is the average of the highest peak and valley of
the surface profile known as Surface roughness.
Table 5 represents ANOVA results for surface roughness where
it shows that layer thickness impacts more on Surface roughness
(94.19%) next support style (3.02%) and infill density (0.60%). Thus,
thinner layer makes the surface smooth [4].
Table 6 represents S/N ratio of respective level for considered
factor for response Surface roughness.
Table 6 shows that optimal combination to obtain least Surface
roughness is layer thickness at level 1, infill density at level 1 and
support style at level 1 (A1B1C1). Thus, optimal condition to achieve
surface roughness is as follows:

Table 4 Table 6
Average effect response for S/N ratio (Smaller-the-better) of Build time. Average effect response for S/N ratio of Surface Roughness.

Levels Layer Thickness Infill Support Levels Layer Thickness Infill Support
(in mm) density Style (in mm) density Style

1 23.36 22.69 22.54 1 19.97 23.91 23.10

2 21.58 22.25 22.40 2 28.33 24.39 25.20
Maximum–Minimum 1.78 0.44 0.14 Maximum–Minimum 8.37 2.10 0.48
Rank 1 2 3 Rank 1 3 2

Table 5
ANOVA for Surface Roughness.

Source Sum of Square Degree of Freedom Mean Square F-Value P-value Contribution
Layer thickness 509.555 1 509.555 172.35 0.000 Significant 94.19%
Infill density 3.265 1 3.265 1.1 0.353 Insignificant 0.60%
Support Style 16.351 1 16.351 5.53 0.078 Insignificant 3.02%
Error 11.826 4 2.956 2.19%
Total 540.997 7 100%

Please cite this article as: V. Wankhede, D. Jagetiya, A. Joshi et al., Experimental investigation of FDM process parameters using Taguchi analysis, Materials
Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.078
4 V. Wankhede et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 7
Comparison of present study with past studies.

Study Result
Present study In the present study, optimization of FDM process parameters (infill density, layer thickness, and support style) has been done. Built time and
surface roughness has been examined by changing the process parameters. From the analysis it is observed that, layer thickness is having
more effect on both built time and surface roughness
Chacón et al. [9] They examine the impact of layer thickness, built orientation and feed rate on the strength of parts fabricated with AM. They performed
tensile testing for analyzing mechanical properties. They concluded that for flat orientation high feed rate and less layer thickness are
recommended
Chen et al. [10] They optimize the process parameters of binder jetting AM process. They considered the layer thickness, drying time and heater power ratio
to optimize the surface finish. They used Taguchi L16 orthogonal array to analyses the result. They concluded that slice height has highest
contribution percentage on surface finish
Fernandez et al. [11] They aimed to analyze the impact of infill density and pattern on mechanical properties of 3D printed parts. They concluded that maximum
tensile strength can be achieved with rectilinear pattern with 100% infill density
Griffiths et al. [12] They aimed to optimize energy consumption, built time, scrap weight and part weight by considering built parameter slice orientation, infill
density, layer height and number of shells. They concluded that slice orientation is having more impact on scrap weight, infill density is
having more impact on part weight, layer height is having more impact on energy consumption and built time

Layer Thickness (in mm) – 0.254
Infill density – Sparse low density
Support Style – Smart
Comparison of result from previous studies is presented in
Table 7.
4. Conclusions
This study presents an individual process parameters optimiza-
tion of FDM based additive manufacturing process using Taguchi
analysis. From ANOVA results, Layer thickness is found to be the
most significant input variable for both the output responses viz.
build time and surface roughness. The optimum level of process
parameters for Build time are established and found to be, Layer
Thickness-0.3302 mm, Infill density-Sparse low density, and Sup-
port Style-Smart. Layer thickness has been observed as highest
influencer on build time. Whereas, the optimum level of process
parameter for Surface Roughness are Layer Thickness-0.254 mm,
Infill density-Sparse low density, and Support Style-Smart. Layer
thickness has been observed as highest influencer on Surface
roughness. This study would enable the experts to optimize the
process parameters for multiple output response variables.
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Please cite this article as: V. Wankhede, D. Jagetiya, A. Joshi et al., Experimental investigation of FDM process parameters using Taguchi analysis, Materials
Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.078