Mechanical property estimation for additive manufacturing parts with supports

Bridging in additive manufacturing (AM) parts occur between two points without any support from below. If the material extruded between these points is dangled (i.e., not horizontal), this is called poor bridging. This paper investigates the effects of AM process parameters and distance between supports on not only poor bridging but also mechanical properties of parts manufactured using AM. Two estimated models (EMs) are computed to predict ultimate stress and strain given these design parameters. To do this, central composite design (CCD) experimental design method is employed to obtain experiment sets based on design parameters. The number of tests is then increased using a systematic sampling technique to obtain the EMs with accurate prediction quality. Tensile experiments are then carried out for all the experiments. Finally, the obtained EMs are integrated into a process optimization test case, in which design parameters are automatically determined in order to achieve mechanical constraints based on the ultimate stress or strain of the printed parts.