Numerical simulation of the extrusion process of viscoplastic materials using a radial point interpolation method

PurposeFused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is an extrusion-based manufacturing process using fused thermoplastics. Despite its low cost, the FFF is not extensively used in high-value industrial sectors mainly due to parts' anisotropy (related to the deposition strategy) and residual stresses (caus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEngineering computations Vol. 40; no. 9/10; pp. 2558 - 2593
Main Authors Daniel ES Rodrigues, Belinha, Jorge, Renato Natal Jorge
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 05.12.2023
Subjects
Additive manufacturing
Algorithms
Anisotropy
Computer simulation
Design optimization
Extrusion
Finite element method
Fused deposition modeling
Heat transfer
Interpolation
Lasers
Meshless methods
Metal forming
Methods
Nodes
Polymer melts
Residual stress
Simulation
Thermoplastic resins
Viscoplastic materials
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Summary:PurposeFused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is an extrusion-based manufacturing process using fused thermoplastics. Despite its low cost, the FFF is not extensively used in high-value industrial sectors mainly due to parts' anisotropy (related to the deposition strategy) and residual stresses (caused by successive heating cycles). Thus, this study aims to investigate the process improvement and the optimization of the printed parts.Design/methodology/approachIn this work, a meshless technique – the Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM) – is used to numerically simulate the viscoplastic extrusion process – the initial phase of the FFF. Unlike the FEM, in meshless methods, there is no pre-established relationship between the nodes so the nodal mesh will not face mesh distortions and the discretization can easily be modified by adding or removing nodes from the initial nodal mesh. The accuracy of the obtained results highlights the importance of using meshless techniques in this field.FindingsMeshless methods show particular relevance in this topic since the nodes can be distributed to match the layer-by-layer growing condition of the printing process.Originality/valueUsing the flow formulation combined with the heat transfer formulation presented here for the first time within an in-house RPIM code, an algorithm is proposed, implemented and validated for benchmark examples.
ISSN:0264-4401
1758-7077
DOI:10.1108/EC-01-2023-0044