THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SLICING SOFTWARE ON THE MANUFACTURING PERFORMANCE OF 3D PRINTED PARTS

Authors

  • Normariah Che Maideen Mechanical Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • Muhammad Haziq Nazri Mechanical Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • Salina Budin Mechanical Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • Hyie Koay Mei Mechanical Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • Hamid Yusoff Mechanical Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • Shuib Sahudin Fakulti Kejuruteraan & Sains Hayat, Universiti Selangor, Jalan Timur Tambahan, 45600 Bistari Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/jm.v46.490

Keywords:

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), slicing software, printing time, manufacturing performance, dimensional accuracy, surface roughness

Abstract

Plastic 3D printing is currently in-trend for producing custom parts and products with intricate geometry. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is one of the preferred technologies, as it requires a simple operation with affordable equipment setup. Previous studies have achieved many breakthroughs in using FFF. To successfully produce parts using the FFF machine, a slicing software is required to provide instructions to the machine. Currently, numerous slicing software are available in the market that can be integrated to the FFF machine. Each slicing software has a slightly different performance compared with others. Therefore, careful consideration should be taken when choosing the most suitable slicing software for the machine in use. In this work, three slicing software, namely, Ultimaker Cura 4.8.0, Cura 2.7.0, and PrusaSlicer have been chosen to investigate their effect on the manufacturing performance of 3D printed parts. The parameters for evaluating manufacturing performance were accuracy of the slicing software in predicting printing time, the dimensional accuracy of the printed parts, and the surface roughness of the printed parts. The effect of printing speed was also investigated at three levels, which were at 20, 40, and 60 mm/s. In this work, the 3D Espresso F220 machine was used. The geometry of the printed parts followed the ASTM D638 Type I geometry using polylactic acid (PLA) filament material. The results showed that Ultimaker Cura 4.8.0 can produce the best results, if the priority of the producer is to use a software with high accuracy in printing time prediction and better surface quality. However, if the priority of the process is to produce small dimensional errors (close tolerance to designed geometry), the characteristics of the dimension (length, width, or thickness) need to be identified. Ultimaker Cura 4.8.0 produced small errors when the critical dimension was width, but Cura 2.7.0 was good for length dimension, while PrusaSlicer was good for thickness dimension. The results also showed that printing speed can affect the time of completion of the printed parts and the surface quality. The lowest printing speed was able to produce parts with better surface quality; however, printing time can become longer.

References

ASTM F2792-12a, Standard terminology for additive manufacturing technologies. ASTM International. West Conshohocken, PA, 2012.

Ze-Xian, L., T.C. Yen, M.R. Ray, Mattia D., I.S. Metcalfe, and D.A. Patterson, Perspective on 3D printing of separation membranes and comparison to related unconventional fabrication techniques. Journal of Membrane Science, 2016. 523(1): p.596-613.

http://canadamakes.ca/what-is-materialjetting.

Syed, A.M.T., P.K. Elias, B. Amit, B. Susmita, O. Liza, and C. Charitidis. Additive manufacturing: scientific and technological challenges, market uptake and opportunities, Materials Today, 2017. 1:p. 1-16.

Tiware, S.K., S. Pande, S. Agrawal, and S.M. Bobade. Selection of selective laser sintering materials for different applications. Rapid Prototyping Journal, 2015. 21(6): p. 630-648.

Ventola, C.L., Medical application for 3D printing: current and projected uses. Medical Devices, 2014. 39(10): p. 1-8.

https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-global-3dprinting-report-2016-full-report/$FILE/ey-global-3d-printing-report-2016-fullreport.pdf

Stansbury, J.W., M.J. Idacavage, 3D printing with polymer: challenges among expanding options and opportunities. Dental Metarials. 2016. 32: p. 54-64.

Shahrubudin, N., T.C. Lee, and R. Ramlan, An overview on 3D printing technology: technological, materials, and applications. Procedia Manuf, 2019. 35: p. 1286-1296.

Horvath, J. and R. Cameron, Mastering 3D printing. Apress, 2020.

Singh, S., Beginning Google sketchup for 3D printing. Apress Berkeley, 2011.

Siddique, T.H.M., I. Sami, M.Z. Nisar, M. Naeem. A. Karim, and M. Usman, Low cost 3D printing for rapid prototyping and its application. IEEE, 2019.

Soloviova, O., 3D printing technology. Appl. Geom. Eng. Graph, 2020. 0(6): p. 136-148.

Hironori Kondo, What is PLA? - 3D printing materials simply explained AII3DP, 2019.

Simplify 3D, “ABS”, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.simplify3d.com/support/materials-guide/abs/.

Gokhare, V.G., D. N. Raut, and D.K. Shinde, A review paper on 3D-printing aspects and various processes used in the 3D printing. Int. J. Eng. Res. Technol., 2017. 6(6): p. 953-958.

Ramli, F.R., et al., Dimensional accuracy and surface roughness of part features manufactured by open source 3D printer. ARPN J. Eng. Appl. Sci., 2018. 13(3).

Jatti, V.S., S.V. Patel, A study on the effect of fused deposition modeling process parameters on mechanical properties. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Res., 2019. 8:p. 689-693.

Aveen, K.P. F. Vishwanath Bhajathari, and C. J. Sudhakar, 3D printing and mechanical characterization of polylactic acid and bronze filled polylactic acid components. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2018. 376.

Mohd Ariffin M.K.A, Sukindar N.A., Baharudin B.T.H.T., Jaafar C. N. A., and M.I.S Ismail, Slicer method comparison using open-source 3D printer. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2018. 114.9.

Sljivic, M., A. Pavlovic, M. Kraisnik, and J. Ilic, Comparing the accuracy of 3D slicing software in printed end-use parts. IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. and Eng., 2019. 659.

Selvaraj, S.B., K. Narasimhan, L. Daniel Abishai, M. Krishna Kaanth, and A. Daniel, The impact of slicing software on mechanical properties of 3D printed parts. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 2020. 9(2): p. 487-494.

Gomez-Alonso J.L., A. Allue, I. De-Marco, J. Retolaza, G. Diez, Influence of slicer software used with 3D printing filament extrusion technology on properties of printed parts with short fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite. DYNA, 2022. 97.

Sally, C., and Haris R.A., The influence of different slicer software on 3D printing product accuracy and surface roughness. Rekayasa Mesin, 2021. 12(2): p. 371-380.

https://www.3dsourced.com/3d-software/best-3d-slicer-printer-software/

Downloads

Published

2023-11-23

How to Cite

Che Maideen, N., Nazri, M. H., Budin, S., Koay Mei , H., Yusoff, H., & Sahudin, S. (2023). THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SLICING SOFTWARE ON THE MANUFACTURING PERFORMANCE OF 3D PRINTED PARTS. Jurnal Mekanikal, 46(2), 72–80. https://doi.org/10.11113/jm.v46.490

Issue

Section

Mechanical

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.