Laser pre-deposition heating for FDM

FDM printed components typically have lower tensile strength in Z-direction. This is due to insufficient diffusion of polymer chains across the inter-layer interface. We used laser pre-deposition heating to keep the interface temperature above the glass transition temperature of the polymer for a longer time. This drives diffusion across the interface and improves the strength in Z-direction.

Strength improvement in ABS

  • Laser pre-deposition heating keeps the inter-layer interface temperature above the reference temperature for a longer period of time.

  • Laser pre-heated samples show significant improvement in flexural strength

  • The strength increases with increase in laser intensity up to a certain point but then begins to deteriorate with further laser intensity increase due to material evaporation.

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