Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
Volume 96, Issue 9-12, Pages 4295-4302Publisher
SPRINGER LONDON LTD
DOI: 10.1007/s00170-018-1901-5
Keywords
Laser polishing; Fused deposition modelling; Additive manufacturing; Thermoplastics
Funding
- Australian Research Council PhD Scholarship [LP150100343]
- Australian Research Council [LP150100343] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
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Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a technique of additive manufacturing (AM) which is capable of fast construction of plastic prototypes. AM technology has been utilised in orthopaedics and traumatology to fabricate patient-specific models, surgical guides, and implants. However, the layering build-up by FDM usually generates a deleterious rough surface that limits its application to items such as surgical guide and surgical operating guide, because these items require a highly resolved surface quality. The advancement of laser polishing has been offering a cost-effective and fast manufacturing solution for FDM-constructed patient-specific guides and implants. This investigation explores application potential using a contactless laser scanning to improve the surface quality of FDM-fabricated thermoplastics. The results show that a maximum [68%] reduction in surface roughness was achieved at 3 W CO2 laser power, 150 mm/s scan speed, 30 ms scan delay and 0.025 mm line gap. Laser polishing is suitable to treat the surface of polylactic acid (PLA). This study provides data which supports a new approach to the manufacture of AM-fabricated thermoplastics utilising a laser scanning technique to improve the surface quality.
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