Binder Jetting Additive Manufacturing Technology : The Effects of Build Orientation on The Printing Quality

Abstract: In recent years, multi-jet fusion technology became more popular as it has unlimited potential. Thanks to this technology, it became possible to produce products with complex geometries.This gives a massive advantage compared to the conventional manufacturing process, as by utilising 3D printers, the costs and environmental impact are reduced exponentially with regards to the fact that this is a new technology. Product quality is one of the most important factors when it comes to product manufacturing for a company to stay competitive in the market. This study was conducted in FABLAB at Halmstad University. The research focuses on different aspects of the fabricated test artefacts, such as surface roughness, tensile strength and dimensional deviation. How different printing parameters can affect the printing quality of the printed parts is then analysed. The result is then compared with designed CAD model. During this study, some experiments were conducted by printing test samples at different build orientations to define the printing quality. Measurement is conducted on the different test artefacts and quantified. The effect from build orientation on surface roughness, tensile strength and dimension accuracy were studied during this thesis. The test samples were measured by using appropriate measuring equipment that was available at Halmstad University. From the test results, it becomes clear that the build orientation directly impacts the printing quality of the printed test samples from the HP multi-jet fusion 3D printer