Progress in Additive Manufacturing

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-019-00107-4

FULL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Extruded diameter dependence on temperature and velocity

in the fused deposition modeling process
Mouhamadou Mansour Mbow1 · Philippe Rene Marin1 · Franck Pourroy1

Received: 14 July 2018 / Accepted: 17 December 2019

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Abstract
The use of fused deposition modeling has become increasingly widespread in additive manufacturing. This technique involves
the extrusion of a polymer filament through a narrow hole with a given diameter on which the deposited raster characteristics
depend. This paper presents an experimental study on the extrudate diameter variations in fused deposition modeling using
polylactic acid (PLA). The main parameters influencing the diameter have been identified through a review of the literature.
It is stated that the extruded diameter depends on the force applied to the polymer as it enters the extruder hole. This force
in turn varies according to the operating temperature and velocity. Above a certain mass flow rate, the polymer filament did
not melt enough and a slippage was noticed at the point where the rollers make contact with the filament, preventing the
extruding motor from pushing the latter toward the outlet. As a result, the extruded filament had an irregular aspect showing
split zones. At high temperatures and low velocities, the extruded filament shrinks due to natural flow under gravity. How-
ever, swelling occurs at the die outlet for higher extrusion velocities, i.e., when the extruding force increases. The maximum
and minimum values of the extruded diameter are analyzed in relation to the velocity. Additional experiments consisting
in printing single-walled parts have also allowed analyzing the effect of the diameter inconsistency on FDM part accuracy.

Keywords Fused deposition modeling · Die swell · Shrinkage · Extrusion force · Extrusion velocity

1 Introduction Despite the technical progress made, the parts manufactured

Three-dimensional printing has been used for several dec-
ades in prototype manufacturing. It makes it possible to
quickly and accurately assess new products at a low cost.
Over the last few years, a trend has developed to use 3D
printing for the industrial batch production of parts.
Various methods are used among the widespread tech-
nology called fused deposition modeling (FDM) [1]. This
consists in depositing a molten polymer filament through a
nozzle layer by layer. Many projects have emerged from this
technology with the aim of developing increasingly sophis-
ticated printers and desktop printers such as RepRaps [2].
* Mouhamadou Mansour Mbow
mouhamadou‑mansour.mbow@grenoble‑inp.fr
Philippe Rene Marin
philippe.marin@grenoble‑inp.fr
Franck Pourroy
franck.pourroy@grenoble‑inp.fr
1
University of Grenoble Alpes–G-SCOP Laboratory, 46
Avenue Felix Viallet, Grenoble 38031, France
using FDM still generate a number of issues related to reli-
ability and variability.
The FDM process mainly requires a CAD model in the
form of STL file sliced by specific software, a raw mate-
rial, a heating source and a mechanical system to push the
raw filament through a die. Technically, the typical layout
of the FDM system includes a platform on which a moving
extruder unit incorporating a heating system travels over
defined trajectories in order to deposit a molten filament
(Fig. 1).
The extruded filament is immediately crushed over the
platform causing its shape to change from cylindrical to
oblong [3]. The final part is obtained as crushed filaments
or raster are stacked layer by layer (Fig. 2). The printer soft-
ware calculates the number of raster to be deposited side by
side based on the total width of the part and on the width
of the flattened raster, i.e., based on the design diameter of
the nozzle which is supposed to generate the diameter of
the extrudate. This means that inconsistencies affecting final
part characteristics might emerge if the extrudate diameter is
not equal to that of the nozzle itself. For instance, according

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Fig. 1  Schematic representation of FDM extrusion system
to some authors such as Sun et al. [4] and Gurrala et al.
[5], the mechanical quality of a part manufactured by FDM
strongly depends on the extent of inter and intra layer con-
tact between the rasters (Fig. 2a) and thus on the extruded
filament size and layer height which is easily adjustable.
Hence, in order to ensure products compliant with the theo-
retical design requirements, the extruded filament size must
be accurate, i.e., a shrinking or a swelling of the material
during the printing process should not occur. In this context,
this paper investigates the extruded diameter dependence on
processing parameters. In particular, the study focuses on a
recurring phenomenon in plastic extrusion associated with
the extrudate swelling.
Fig. 2  Illustration of a stacked layers and bonding effect; b air gaps between deposited filaments in the same horizontal plane
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Progress in Additive Manufacturing
1.1 The die swell phenomenon
The molten plastic swelling phenomenon is commonly
called die swell and can be explained in several ways. It
usually appears as a diametric inflation of the extrudate
when transiting from a confined flow to a free flow as shown
in Fig. 3. In fact, as it flows through the extruder heating
system, the melt has to overcome the resistance caused by
the geometry and the shearing effect between imaginary
polymer slices [6]. When the melt flows under the effect
of a shear stress, entangled polymer molecule chains are
deformed elastically (viscoelastic feature) and become par-
allel to the flow direction [6]. At the nozzle outlet, the poly-
mer is released from any constraint as it makes contact with
the free surface. The remaining elastic energy stored by the
material causes the molecule chains to recover the strain;
this results in an uneven extrudate [7].
The extrusion irregularities leading to diameter variations
can be directly correlated with the complexity of the flow
dynamics in the liquefier due to different parameters such
as flow rate, temperature, viscosity, pressure drop or extru-
sion force [8]. A brief review of the studies on the analysis
of melt behavior in fused deposition modeling is presented
in the follow-up.
1.2 Background of melt behavior analysis in FDM
Diametrical variations due to die swell are inherent problems
in polymer extrusion processes that made the interest of vari-
ous works [7, 9–11]. It is mainly characterized by the melt
behavior under the action of the processing parameters in
the flow channel. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the
phenomena that take place during the material flow inside
the liquefier.
For the fused deposition modeling, this has been largely
investigated by different researchers [1]. Bellini et al.
[8] proposed mathematical models of the melt flow and
Progress in Additive Manufacturing
Fig. 3  Illustration of the die swell effect at nozzle outlet
transfer function approach for effective flow control and
improved part integrity. Their model gives an explanation
of the process taking place in the liquefier and quanti-
fies the pressure drop throughout the nozzle. In the same
idea, Venkataraman et al. [12] developed a methodology
for characterizing the compressive mechanical proper-
ties of filament feedstock in fused deposition ceramics
for predicting buckling in the liquefier. Nikzad et al. [13]
presented 2D and 3D numerical models of the melt flow
for ABS–iron composite; they investigated the main pro-
cess parameters, namely the temperature, velocity and
pressure drop, to predict the flow behavior. Their results
revealed that high pressure drops are noticed at the noz-
zle outlet cause of the diameter change. A finite element
analysis applied to the flow of biomaterials in FDM has
also been carried out by Ramanath et al. [14] to show the
effect of nozzle angle and diameter on the flow pressure
drop. Sa’ude et al. [15] investigated the melt flow behavior
of ABS, HPDE, PP and ABS/iron blends based on finite
element analysis. They reported that the velocity of the
melt flow was higher at the center of the channel than at
the liquefier walls.
Peng et al. [16] experimentally visualized the flow behav-
ior and quantified the temperature evolution in the axial
direction of the liquefier by using embedded thermocouples.
Phan et al. [17] analyzed heat transfer during the process to
establish general Nusselt number/Graetz number correlation
by conducting a rheological modeling of the pressure drop.
Monzòn et al. [18] carried out experimental and theoretical
studies on micro-additive fused deposition system to explore
the limits and special requirements. They took measure-
ments of the swelling effect with respect to velocity and
analyzed the cooling of the filament during the deposition.
The comprehensive data provided in the literature about
the melt flow may help in establishing relationships between
the processing parameters and the extrusion die swell in
fused deposition additive manufacturing.
However, it is currently still difficult to quantify the
extruded diameter deviation in FDM basing on the flow
adjustable parameters such as the target temperature and
the flow rate or velocity. The purpose of this study is to
investigate the impact of the working temperature and
velocity on the extrudate diameter variations in FDM pro-
cess. In Sect. 2, a study of the processing parameters is
presented to infer the extrusion parameters’ influence on
the swelling phenomenon. Section 3 presents experimental
works where Sect. 3.1 is about measuring the extrusion
driving force and the extrudate diameter under different
working conditions, and Sect. 3.2 details additional experi-
ments for the analysis of the process parameters’ effects
on the printed products. The experimental results are dis-
cussed in Sect. 4.
2 Study of processing parameters
2.1 Theoretical analysis
In FDM, the material melts as it moves throughout the liq-
uefier under the effect of a certain heat flux. An extruding
motor is used to move the solid part of the filament, which
in turn pushes the molten part toward the outlet [12]. The
solid part acts as a piston on the melt inducing a shear
stress as it attempts to overcome the flow resistance caused
by the liquefier geometry (convergence zone or diameter
change) and the shearing effect in the melt [6]. The extru-
sion of the material is possible only if the extrusion force
is greater than or at least equal to the flow resistance force.
According to the experimental works presented by [9, 10,
the magnitude of the die swell for polymers is directly
proportional to the flow shear stress. This latter can be
expressed by using the power law for a cylindrical tube
[19] as follows:
Δp
𝜏= 2L
⋅r (1)
where L and r are, respectively, the tube length and radius.
Bellini et al. [8] used the power law of viscosity put forward
by Oswald–de Waele described by [20] to propose a math-
ematical model for the assessment of the pressure drop Δp
on 3D printer heating systems (see geometrical parameters
in Fig. 4).
Entrance zone:
( )1∕
( )( V )1∕m m
Δp1 = 2 L1 − ymelt 𝜑i m+3
⋅ H(T) (2)
( )m+1
Di
2
Convergence zone:
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 Progress in Additive Manufacturing

𝜂 = H(T) ⋅ 𝜂0 (𝛾)
̇ (6)

[ ( )]
H(T) = exp E𝛼 T1 − 1
T𝛼
(7)

In (7), T is the material temperature, T𝛼 is the reference

temperature at which H(T) = 1, and E𝛼 is the activation
energy. Yardimci et al. [22] demonstrated that the melt-
ing front in the liquefier ( ymelt as depicted by Fig. 4) is
proportional to the velocity Vi at which the polymer trav-
els throughout the heating system, i.e., the temperature T
is logically governed by Vi . In addition, Peng et al. [16]
experimentally showed that the material temperature is
inversely proportional to the extrusion velocity. Owing
to all of those physical considerations, it would not be
trivial to establish models representing all the properties
interrelations.

2.2 Summary of theoretical analysis

Equations (1) and (5) show that the die swell depends on
Fig. 4  Melting position in the heating system the pressure drop inside the nozzle and thus on the liq-
uefier geometry, the fluid characteristics and the process
� �
⎛ ⎞�� �2 �1∕ adjustable parameters, namely the entrance velocity Vi and
m
Δp2 = 2m
� � ⎜ 13 − 1 ⎟ Di (m + 3) ⋅ 2m+3 ⋅ H(T) the wall temperature T . The fluid viscosity is implicitly
3 tan 𝛼∕ ⎜ Dom 3∕ ⎟ 2
2 ⎝ Di m ⎠ affected by the temperature and the velocity as indicated in
(3) Eq. (6). Therefore, it can be stated that the diameter devia-
Capillary or exit zone: tion is mainly affected by the viscosity, the temperature
and the extrusion velocity. However, in a practical context,
( ( )2 )1∕ only the temperature and the velocity can be setup by the
( )1∕ D
(m+3) 2i
m
Δp3 = 2L2
Vi m
( )m+3 ⋅ H(T) (4) user. The graph in Fig. 5 summarizes the dependencies.
There is little literature about the die swell effect on
𝜑 Do
2

parts fabricated by fused deposition modeling. However,

Total pressure drop:
Δp = Δp1 + Δp2 + Δp3
m is the flow exponent (depends on fluid temperature); 𝜑 is
the fluidity of the molten polymer; Di , Do and Vi are, respec-
tively, the filament inlet diameter, the die diameter and the
inlet velocity; L1 and L2 , respectively, refer to the length of
the cylindrical entrance zone and the capillary length of the
liquefier.
In has to be noted that the material fluidity is by definition
the inverse of the viscosity (6). While extruding, the heat
power is regulated by measuring the liquefier temperature in
order to maintain it around an adjusted target temperature.
The material flow is no longer isothermal cause of the delay
response of the regulator [8]. For this reason, the Arrhenius
law [21] given by H(T) is used to take account of the change
in viscosity due to the temperature variations (Eq. (6)). The
quantity 𝛾̇ represents the shear rate which in this case can
( be )
written as the derivative of the velocity by the radius dV dr
.
3D printer holders frequently discuss the subject in forums
and the issues raised usually concern the origin of the
(5)
die swell effect and prediction, but explanations are rarely
based on a rigorous scientific approach. It would be com-
plicated to experimentally quantify the pressure drop on an
existing printer extruding system to predict the diameter
variations. So in this study, the necessary force F exerted
on the filament to perform the extrusion given in Eq. (8)
[1, 8] is directly measured for different processing param-
eters (Vi and T ) to observe the extruded diameter depend-
ence on working conditions. To ensure that the observed
phenomena are not specific to a given nozzle diameter,
the experimental works have been performed with three
nozzle diameters.
F = Δp ⋅ S (8)
S is the cross-sectional area of the raw filament usually taken
as the cross section of the liquefier.

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Progress in Additive Manufacturing
Fig. 5  Dependence between processing parameters and die swell
Fig. 6  Extrusion force measurement device
3 Methodology and equipment
3.1 Measurement of extrusion force
In this experimental work, the free extrusion force and
extrudate diameter were measured against different veloc-
ity and working temperature values. To do so, the assem-
bly shown in Fig. 6 has been designed and fabricated. Two
force sensing resistors (FSR) were installed on either side
of the nozzle’s vertical axis to measure the applied force
(Fig. 6). These have been calibrated separately using metal
blocks weighed with a 0.01-g precision scale and based on
the manufacturer’s data.
When the extrusion runs, the mobile plate connected
to the liquefier moves downwards, and the whole setup
presses both of the force sensors. In varying the extrusion
velocity and temperature using Repetier-Host Software
connected to the extruder controller board (RAMPS 1.4),
the force variations were recorded by a board that allowed
interpreting the values measured by the sensors. The latter
were transmitted to the computer via the serial port. The
Fig. 7  Desktop printer extrusion system with modified nozzle (the
dimensions are in millimeters)
total force applied was equivalent to the sum of the values
given by sensors.
To avoid inconsistency, the forces measured were only
recorded after a certain duration (30 s), which corresponds
to the time it takes to purge the material remaining in the
system while making adjustments. When the filament was
extruded, its diameter was measured at different cross sec-
tions in order to establish the minimum and maximum
values.
A desktop printer extrusion system equipped with an
E3D V6 head has been used to perform the experiments for
three different die diameters (0.3 mm, 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm);
some geometrical details are shown in Fig. 7. The extruded
material was made of polylactic acid (PLA) (glass transition
temperature 55–60 °C; processing temperature 170–220 °C;
color blue; diameter 1.75 mm). The ambient conditions
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 Progress in Additive Manufacturing

during the experiments have been monitored and were nearly
constant in the room (relative humidity 55–63%; temperature
22–26 °C).
In order to compare the temperature set by the computer
with the approximate outlet temperature, a thermocouple
was placed at the nozzle outlet (Fig. 7).
3.2 Manufacturing of sample parts
Additional experiments consisting of printing spiral
square contours of 0.4 mm thick, 50 mm wide and 15 mm
high (Fig. 8) have been carried out by using a RepRap
printer (E3DV6 extruder). The samples have been
fabricated with a layer height of 0.2 mm for three values
of processing temperature (190 °C, 210 °C and 220 °C)
and three values of extruding velocity (2 mm/s, 5 mm/s
and 10 mm/s); the bed temperature was maintained at
60 °C. During the operations, the layer cooling fan was
activated. The wall thickness at the end of the process is
expected to be equal to that calculated from the mass con-
servation, theoretically w = 0.4 mm. To ensure a constant
deposited volume of material, the printing speed or feed
rate was adapted to the extrusion velocity.
Then, optical microscopy observation is led on the sam-
ples in order to take measurements on the wall thickness and
interlayer contact width. A DSX500/510 microscope is used,
and two visualization modes, namely the bright field and the
polarization, are used. The layers observation is achieved
on the section shown in Fig. 8. Qualitative and quantitative
analyses of the resulting products are discussed in Sect. 4.4.

4 Results and discussion

4.1 Extrusion force versus velocity

The extrusion force increases as the mass flow rate rises,

as shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11. The resistance induced by
a small die diameter is greater than that induced by a larger
die diameter. This can be explained using Bellini’s model
Fig. 8  Square samples in Eq. (3): The smaller the die diameter, the greater the

Fig. 9  Extrusion force vs veloc- Force vs Velocity 0.3 mm

ity for 0.3 mm die diameter 50.0

45.0

40.0

35.0
Force in Newtons

30.0
190 °C
25.0
200 °C
20.0 210 °C
220 °C
15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Velocity in mm/s

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Progress in Additive Manufacturing

Fig. 10  Extrusion force vs Force vs Velocity 0.4 mm

velocity for 0.4 mm die diam- 50.00
eter
45.00

40.00

35.00

Force in Newtons
30.00
190 °C
25.00
200 °C

20.00 210 °C
220 °C
15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Velocity in mm/s

Fig. 11  Extrusion force vs Force vs Velocity 0.6 mm

velocity for 0.6 mm die diam- 55
eter
50

45

40

35
Force in Newtons

30 190 °C
200 °C
25 210 °C
220 °C
20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Velocity in mm/s

pressure drop. The chart profiles prove that for a selected For high velocities, the material has difficulty reaching
temperature the extruding force is higher when using the the melting point owing to its relatively low temperature. As
0.3 mm die. mentioned in the introduction, the melt has to overcome both

13

the shearing resistance and the geometrical resistance. When
the material is not molten enough, its viscosity remains high
and the shear stress induced is also high. This causes the
extruder motor to exert a substantial torque in order to force
the molten polymer out of the nozzle.
The conducted experiments lead to more than 180 param-
eter sets and several diameter measurements for each. For
each nozzle and processing temperature used, the charts
plotting the data measured present three different zones.
The first concerns low velocities (from 1 mm/s to about
5 mm/s) where extrusion is stable and the extrusion force
is relatively low (F < 10 N). When extruding in these con-
ditions, the resulting extrudate aspect is smooth and even
and the diameter is constant. However, a particular behavior
is noticed for the 0.3 mm die diameter at very low speed
(around 1 mm/s) for which the extrusion force is high then
decreases. This might be due to the fact that the low speeds
result in smaller values of ymelt ; thus, the term Δp1 from
Bellini’s model gets greater.
The second zone starts at nearly 5 mm/s, but its upper
limit of velocity differs for each nozzle diameter and pro-
cessing temperature (Table 1). In this velocity range, the
extrusion force evolves as almost a polynomial function of
velocity and the extrudate aspect remains smooth with no
visible irregularity. The force in the third zone reaches a
maximum value and is approximately constant although
extrusion is at times interrupted due to slippage between the
rollers and the filament. It appears that this force is related
to the maximum force the motor can provide to push the raw
filament out and is not a characteristic of the polymer. On
the other hand, the velocity at which this slippage occurs
depends on the temperature, the polymer fluidity and the die
geometry. Owing to this slipping behavior in the third zone,
the extrudate no longer has a regular aspect and presents
significant diameter variations.
4.2 Study of extruded diameter
These experiments show that the extruded filament’s diam-
eter varies according to the working conditions. The differ-
ence in extruded filament size is visible, as shown in Fig. 12.
Unexpected shrinkage of the extruded filament can be
observed when the working velocity is low. This is likely
Table 1  Maximum velocities for stable extrusion with each nozzle
Processing tem- 0.3 mm 0.4 mm 0.6 mm
perature (°C) Velocity mm/s Velocity mm/s Velocity mm/s
190 20 25 30
200 20 25 30
210 25 27 35
220 27 >27 >35
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Progress in Additive Manufacturing
Fig. 12  Filaments extruded at 190 °C with different velocities
through 0.4 mm die diameter
due to a natural flow through the nozzle outlet under grav-
ity together with a poor molten polymer nozzle filling (low
mass flow rate). This phenomenon is particularly visible
with the 0.6 mm die diameter, which is obviously harder
to fill. Printing with this setting can cause air gaps to form
between the deposited crushed filaments owing to the fact
that their width is smaller than the design width (Fig. 2).
The phenomenon may weaken the mechanical and geo-
metrical properties of the printed part.
Furthermore, when the extrusion velocity is high, the
thermocouple placed near the nozzle outlet (Fig. 7) shows
that the polymer temperature is relatively low; the tem-
perature variations are shown in Fig. 13. Owing to the
short length of the heating system, the material does not
have enough time to soften properly.
As mentioned, the viscosity depends on the temper-
ature, which means that for low temperatures it is rela-
tively high, causing the extruding motor to apply exces-
sive force on the material, hence deforming the polymer
chains. At the die outlet, the chains seek to recover their
initial shape (viscoelastic feature), which results in swell-
ing of the extrudate. Since the extruded diameter presents
inconsistencies, the user-selected raster width has not been
applied. The chart plotted in Fig. 14 is based on mean
diameters calculated using the extruded filament maxi-
mum and minimum measured values for a given velocity.
The outlet diameter can be in some cases more than twice
the nozzle’s normal diameter.
For example, when extruding at 190 °C and 20 mm/s:
Dmax = 0.97 mm, Dmin = 0.94 mm and Dmean = 0.955 mm.
Additional experimental results are given in Appendices (1,
2, 3) (Tables 2, 3 and 4). For the experiments, the veloc-
ity range is 1–35 mm/s and the selected temperatures are
190 °C, 200 °C, 210 °C and 220 °C.
Progress in Additive Manufacturing

Fig. 13  Variations between the

setting temperature and the exit
temperature according to the
extrusion velocity

Fig. 14  Extruded filament 1.2

diameter vs velocity: changes in
minimum and maximum values
for 0.4 mm die processed at
190 °C 1
Extruded diameter in mm

0.8

0.6

Minimum value
0.4

Maximum Value

0.2
Mean

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Velocity in mm/s

As shown in the study of processing parameters, the 4.3 High‑velocity behavior

die swell is affected by temperature, velocity, viscosity
and die geometry. Moreover, these parameters influence
each other. Nevertheless, the graph plotting the die swell
changes in relation to the filament input velocity and tem-
perature shows that the temperature does not have a very
high impact compared with the velocity for the experimen-
tal range (Fig. 15).
The filament melts as it moves along the heating sys-
tem under the action of thermal energy available at the
wall. Yardimci et al. [22] showed that for each working
temperature the melting front location of the polymer
ymelt (depicted in Fig. 4) depends on the entrance veloc-
ity. To make the extrusion possible, this value should not

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 Progress in Additive Manufacturing

Fig. 15  Diameter difference vs 0.8

velocity: changes of difference
between extruded diameter and
0.7
die diameter (De−Do) accord-
ing to velocity
0.6

0.5

mm
0.4
190 °C

De - Do
0.3 200 °C
210 °C
0.2
220 °C

0.1

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
-0.1

-0.2
Velocity in mm/s

be greater than the liquefier cylindrical zone length L1.
Therefore, a certain limit extrusion velocity must not be
exceeded; otherwise, the extrusion becomes intermittent
as the material locks at the convergence zone while gain-
ing enough energy to melt; a slippage inevitably occurs
as the motor continues to apply force to the filament.
In this case, split zones appear on the extruded filament
(Fig. 16).
Figure 17 depicts the changing force over time when the
process runs under such conditions (for example, 33 mm/s
and 200 °C). When the rollers slip, the value measured by
the sensor drops and this corresponds to the time during
which the filament stays in the nozzle before it can melt.
The appearance of the split zones on the filament is asso-
ciated with a certain periodicity that can be correlated with
the variations of the extrusion force.
4.4 Study of printed part quality
4.4.1 Qualitative analysis
The sample textures printed at different temperatures are
found to be different for a low and constant extrusion veloc-
ity. As the material flows easier when the processing tem-
perature increases, the deposited volume might be differ-
ent from what is assumed to fit with the adjusted feed rate.
Figure 18a shows that the parts have different textures at the
same velocity for different temperatures.
Large voids are observed on samples at high extru-
sion velocity (Vi = 10 mm/s ) for 190 °C and their width
decreases as the temperature is increased. The voids appear
at regular intervals on the walls and are assumed to corre-
spond to the time when the material is not melted enough to
flow. In the experiment presented above (Sect. 4.3), this phe-
nomenon occurred at values higher than 10 mm/s as reported
in Table 1. The early apparition of the interruptions can be
caused by the difference of pressure between the free extru-
sion and the printing process. The final aspect of the part is

Fig. 16  Regular pattern on

extruded filament

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Progress in Additive Manufacturing

Fig. 17  Variation of extrusion 60

force due to slippage

50

Extrusion Force in Newton

40

30

20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Time in seconds

Fig. 18  Difference in appear-

ance a samples printed at
2 mm/s; b samples printed
10 mm/s

shown in Fig. 18b. However, at 220 °C for the same velocity
range, the resulting aspect looks stable.
4.4.2 Quantitative analysis
From the optical microscopy observation images, the inter-
layer contact width and the protruding or peak width (polar-
ized visualization in Fig. 19) for samples printed at 210 °C
for 25 layers are plotted in Fig. 20. Globally, the results do
not show much thickness variations between the samples
made with different extrusion speeds. In contrast to the free
extrusion, the deposition process is constrained by the sur-
roundings. In fact, the current deposited layer sticks to the
previous layers and is pulled in the direction of the move-
ment. The die swell of the filament can thus be hindered by
those constrains and the fast cooling due to the blowing fan.
However, another finding is that the interlayer con-
tact width and peak width are more repeatable at higher

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 Progress in Additive Manufacturing

2 mm/s, 5 mm/s and 10 mm/s. Then, for the peak width,

the standard deviations are 0.0297, 0.0173 and 0.0165 at,
respectively, 2 mm/s, 5 mm/s and 10 mm/s. The non-con-
stancy of the interlayer contact width has a great effect on
the bonding quality between the layers [4]; the greater the
width, the stronger the bonding is.
Further, by using a bright-field visualization of the layers,
internal cracks have been noticed (Fig. 21). In the sample
made at 10 mm/s, the defect is systematic and approximately
occurs at the interface between two layers. Few cracks are
noticed for lower velocity. This type of issue clearly affects
the bonding quality. This observation needs to be further
investigated in order to correlate the mechanical strength
with the deposition rate.
Fig. 19  Polarized visualization of stacked layers: interlayer and peak
width
5 Conclusion

velocities. For example, at 2 mm/s, there is less constancy Experimental data presented in this paper about the extru-
of the width. The standard deviation values for the interlayer sion force have confirmed the extrudate diameter depend-
contact width are 0.0257, 0.0176 and 0.0138 at, respectively, ence on the temperature and the velocity as theoretically

Fig. 20  Different interlayer

contact widths (discontinuous
line) and peak widths (continu-
ous line) for 2 mm/s, 5 mm/s
and 10 mm/s

Fig. 21  Cracks appearing on

samples

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Progress in Additive Manufacturing

established in the study of processing parameters. For high Appendix 2: Diameters measured for the 0.4 mm die
velocities (> 20 mm/s), it is shown that the free extrusion
of the filament is at times interrupted because of the fact See Table 3.
that the material is not melted enough (low residence time
inside the liquefier). The same effect also happened during
the printing process of sample parts, which presented non- Table 3  Experimental data for 0.4 mm die
negligible voids. For the low velocities (less than 10 mm/s;
Velocity Processing temperature
usually operated when printing), the extrusion is quite (mm/s)
steady, but the swelling effect still occurs. Its magnitude has 190 °C 200 °C 210 °C 220 °C
been found to be depending more on the extrusion velocity 1 0.32 0.34 0.32 0.3
than on the processing temperature. 2 0.39 0.37 0.37 0.34
The microscopy observations showed that there are not 3 0.4 0.38 0.38 0.36
many variations between the samples printed at different 4 0.42 0.4 0.4 0.38
extrusion speeds. Nevertheless, two important remarks have 5 0.44 0.42 0.41 0.4
been made: (1) there is less constancy of the width for low 10 0.5 0.5 0.46 0.44
velocities than high velocities and (2) recurrent interlayer 12 0.58 0.52 0.5 0.48
cracks are noticed at high extrusion velocities. These tend 15 0.64 0.6 0.6 0.58
to confirm that the process parameters such as the extrud- 20 0.86 0.84 0.78 0.74
ing rate and the temperature have great effect on the FDM 25 0.9 0.92 1 0.98
products’ quality, especially on their interlayer bonding. Fur- 27 0.96 0.94 1.02 1.1
ther investigations are required to characterize the impact of 30 1.02 0.98 1.03 1.07
those parameters on mechanical strength of parts and also to 33 1.04 1.02 1.02 1.08
propose better process control. 35 1.04 1.03 1.02 1.09

Appendices Appendix 3: Diameters measured for the 0.6 mm die

Italics: Poor filling of the nozzle. See Table 4.
Roman: Slippage rollers/filament (irregular aspect).

Table 4  Experimental data for 0.6 mm die

Appendix 1: Diameters measured for the 0.3 mm die
Velocity Processing temperature
(mm/s)
See Table 2. 190 °C 200 °C 210 °C 220 °C

1 0.58 0.64 0.54 0.53

Table 2  Experimental data for 0.3 mm die 2 0.59 0.56 0.56 0.58
Velocity Processing temperature 3 0.6 0.58 0.58 0.56
(mm/s) 4 0.6 0.6 0.58 0.57
190 °C 200 °C 210 °C 220 °C
5 0.62 0.6 0.57 0.55
1 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.28 10 0.71 0.67 0.62 0.61
2 0.3 0.31 0.31 0.29 12 0.77 0.73 0.69 0.65
3 0.33 0.34 0.31 0.3 15 0.9 0.83 0.79 0.74
4 0.38 0.36 0.33 0.31 20 1.07 1.04 1.04 0.98
5 0.39 0.37 0.35 0.32 25 1.12 1.12 1.21 1.2
10 0.47 0.45 0.42 0.41 27 1.15 1.16 1.21 1.22
12 0.52 0.49 0.47 0.44 30 1.2 1.18 1.18 1.25
15 0.57 0.55 0.52 0.51 33 1.27 1.18 1.2 1.27
20 0.77 0.72 0.69 0.66 35 1.3 1.19 1.19 1.27
25 0.77 0.75 0.8 0.74
27 0.76 0.73 0.72 0.82
30 0.77 0.8 0.75 x

13
 Progress in Additive Manufacturing

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