Enhancing Surface Quality in Additive Manufacturing Applications: A Micro-power Float Approach

Additive manufacturing (AM) for construction is rapidly developing, with significant effort on the control and measurement of the quality materials, and less directed towards enhancing the surface quality of printed parts. The presence of the staircase effect, a well-known feature of 3DCP, imposes limitations on achieving desired aesthetics and manufacturing tolerances. Secondary process like floating has been demonstrated to show benefit for sprayed concrete surfaces, however, studies of the parameters for application using mix designs for extrusion have not been reported. This paper attempts to address this gap by presenting an investigation of the influence of process on surface quality. Key parameters of power float process in 3DCP are investigated, including pressure, rotational speed, material state, and dwell time and the resulting surfaces are quantifiably evaluated using high-resolution optical roughness measurement. These values were compared to standard surface finishing metrics, and it was found that an applied tool force in the range of 20–40 N and rotational speed in the range of 150–300 Rotational Speed (RPM) yielded the best results.