Investigation and transformation of traditional fused deposition modeling apparatus to a non-planar additive manufacturing methodology

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is increasingly responsible for a major evolution in how products are designed and manufactured. It offers flexibility and the ability to produce complex parts. Within AM, FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) is widely used, but there are some limitations, both structural and superficial, such as the ladder effect, the need for support and heterogeneities. To reduce these limitations and obtain better quality parts, the non-planar FDM technique has been developed, in which the three axes are moved simultaneously without collision. This work aims to adapt a conventional FDM printer into a printer capable of producing non-planar layers by determining the main mechanical characteristics of the printer and the main parameters associated with the process. This makes it possible to exploit the advantages and benefits of the non-planar technique to design parts with different angles ranging from 10° to 80°.