Influence of Printing Parameters on Mechanical Behavior of 3D-Printed PLA Using Taguchi Based ANFIS Technique

This paper presents the problem of determining the optimal input process parameters of a Fused Deposition Modelling 3D printer for improved mechanical strength of the 3D printed objects. Polylactic Acid material tensile test and Izod impact test specimen are printed as per the ASTM standards. Various critical input parameters infill density, infill pattern, raster angle and number of contours are analysed on the material. The tensile and impact strengths were determined by conducting 16 experiments using a Tensometer for tensile test while a pendulum impact test is used for Izod impact test. Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) is used to train input and output data and optimal parameters are obtained for improved mechanical strength. The tensile strength and impact strength have been improved by 19.8% and 18.3% respectively with the optimal set of input parameters determined in the analysis.