Manufacturing parts optimization in the three-dimensional printing process by the Taguchi method

The functional requirements of three-dimensional printing systems are speed, accuracy and the strength of the green-part. However, these functional indices are significantly affected by the properties of the adopted materials and the manufacturing process parameters of the rapid prototyping machine. The four most important process parameters were systematically investigated in this study. Using the ANOVA analysis techniques of the Taguchi method and adjusting the shrinkage setup values, we determined the optimal parameter setup values for NCKU-1 powder and reduced the dimensional accuracy error to ±0.08 mm, ±0.07 mm and ±0.06 mm in the X-, Y-and Z-direction, respectively. The results also show that these optimized parameters can shorten building time by 9.57% and increase flexural stress by 31.27%. Finally, the quality properties were also examined separately for ZP 100 and NCKU-1 powder. It is concluded that building time decreased by 16.5%, binder consumption was reduced by 35.4% and flexural stress increased 172.88% if the powder was changed from ZP 100 to NCKU-1.