Title: Investigation on mechanical properties for PolyJet-printed parts involving material reduction strategy

Authors: Arivazhagan Pugalendhi; Rajesh Ranganathan; M.P. Sreekanth; Sivakumar Ganesan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Civil Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore, TN, 641014, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Civil Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore, TN, 641014, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Civil Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore, TN, 641014, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Civil Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore, TN, 641014, India

Abstract: Additive manufacturing (AM), a tool less manufacturing process has the advantage of saving material; however, this is not a wastage free manufacturing technology. In PolyJet technology, material wastage is more due to material replacement. This study concentrates on finding a solution to reduce the wastage of material and compare the mechanical properties of PolyJet-printed specimens in single-material (SM) mode and digital-material (DM) mode. In order to reduce the wastage, modified mixed tray strategy is proposed and it is validated by case example. Six different combinations of test specimens are derived from available three printing modes and two finish types of Objet260 Connex PolyJet. This research identified that the proposed technique is capable of saving material. Findings indicate that specimens printed by DM mode explicate low mechanical strength than SM mode. This study provides the awareness of the material replacement and increase the fidelity of the PolyJet-printed parts.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; PolyJet; Objet260 connex; material reduction; material replacement; flushing; modified mixed tray.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2021.119987

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing, 2021 Vol.10 No.1, pp.52 - 68

Received: 12 Aug 2020
Accepted: 13 Mar 2021

Published online: 04 Jan 2022 *

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