Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Progress in Additive Manufacturing https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-018-00072-4 FULL RESEARCH ARTICLE PCA-based desirability method for dimensional improvement of part extruded by fused deposition modelling technology Azhar Equbal 1  · Md. Israr Equbal 2  · Anoop Kumar Sood 3 Received: 12 July 2018 / Accepted: 18 December 2018 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 Abstract Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing technique that has the ability to build complicated geometry of parts in least possible time without any tooling problem. Extrusion-based methods ofer various advantages but the part quality of fabricated part is poorer when measured in terms of dimensional accuracy. Quality of its fabricated part primarily depends on processing parameters like raster angle, air gap, layer thickness, etc. For improving the part accuracy, present work is aimed at optimization of FDM processing parameters. Response surface methodology- based face-centered central composite design is used for designing the experimental matrix and also to reduce the number of experimental runs. Analysis of variance is used to study the efects of processing parameters on responses. Empirical model relating the parameters and responses is also developed. The suitability of developed model is tested using Ander- son–darling normality test. Dimensional measurement shows that measured dimensions of fabricated part are always more than CAD model. Restriction of shrinkage during part fabrication causes oversize dimension of part. Besides, chosen pro- cessing parameters is the major reason for dimensional inaccuracy of the fabricated part. Weighted principal component analysis (WPCA)-based desirability function method is used as a hybrid approach to fnd the optimal parameter setting for part fabrication with minimum overall deviations in dimension. Optimization process suggests that part fabrication should be done at 30° raster angle, − 0.004 mm air gap and 0.4064 mm raster width for minimal relative changes in length (∆L), width (∆W) and thickness (∆T). Keywords FDM · Face centered · Central composite design · Analysis of variance · Raster angle · Air gap 1 Introduction Fused deposition modelling (FDM) by Stratysys is one of the fastest growing extrusion-based additive manufacturing processes to fabricate parts of any complex geometry in least possible time directly from the part digital informa- tion. It does not require any part-specifc tooling and also no process planning is required [1–3]. The part materials used for fabrication are thermoplastics like ABS (acrylonitrile- butadiene- styrene), PC (polycarbonate) and PC-ABS, etc. Extruded parts have great thermal and chemical resistance properties and also have excellent strength-to-weight ratio. The diverse areas of application include automobiles (noz- zles, gearbox), medical (surgery), investment casting, rapid tooling, etc. [3]. Part fabrication is done in a number of steps. First, a 3D CAD model of the part is generated using any solid modelling software like CATIA, Pro-E, etc. CAD models in their native format are converted to machine- acceptable format, which commonly is stereolithography * Azhar Equbal azhr_eqbl06@yahoo.co.in; azhreqbl09@gmail.com Md. Israr Equbal israr_equbal@yahoo.co.in Anoop Kumar Sood anoopkumarsood@gmail.com 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, RTC Institute of Technology, Ormanjhi, Ranchi 835219, India 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, JB Institute of Engineering and Technology, Moinabad, Hyderabad 500075, India 3 Department of Manufacturing Engineering, National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Hatia, Ranchi 834003, India