Low-Cost QA Benchmark for Fused Filament Fabrication

Abstract The wide-scale use of low-cost fused filament fabrication (FFF) machines and their adoption for retail or manufacturing applications mean that there is a need to consider quality assurance in the manufacture of parts from low-cost machines. This article presents a low-cost method for evaluating the interlayer bond strength of FFF-made parts. Various tensile, flexural, and impact test specimens were designed, fabricated, and tested based on ISO standard methods, and on a new test jig to evaluate the strength of FFF-made parts. Tests conducted on the test jig were validated against those conducted on conventional testing machines. Analysis of variance was used to investigate the significance of processing parameters (layer thickness, fill density, and speed of deposition) on the mechanical properties. All the test types were observed to be sensitive to changes in processing conditions that affect the interlayer bond strength and hence the quality of the fabricated parts. Based on experimental results, the novel low-cost test jig does give an appropriate method for evaluating interlayer bond strength as part of routine quality testing.