Effects of Process Parameters on Build Time of PolyJet Printed Parts Using Taguchi Method

Every industry needs to minimize the design, manufacturing and product development cycle time to succeed viable benefit. Thereby, rapid manufacturing techniques play a major role over traditional manufacturing techniques. The PolyJet technology is one of the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies in which CAD data are directly used for producing the physical objects through layered manufacturing. Quality, lead time and cost of the 3D printed parts are significantly affected by various process parameters. So, optimization of process parameter is essential for reducing the lead time without sacrificing the quality of 3D printed parts. The aim of this work is to investigate the effects of process parameters on build time of the PolyJet printed parts by using Taguchi method. Signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio was used to analyze the scaling factors, find the optimum process parameters that reduce the build time and identify the importance of ranking for various factors which were investigated by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Finish type (A), material (B), thickness (C) and shape (D) as a selected four process parameters. The optimization results reveal that parameter C is the most significant influence followed by B, A, and D of the PolyJet printed parts and that the optimum combination of the parameters is A2B1C1D1. These results would be very useful for other researchers who working in the same era. This work offers a best recommendation that can be used to improve the quality of 3D printed parts in many sectors.