Effect of Nozzle Diameter on the Physical Behavior of FDM-Printed Part: An Experimental Study

Fused deposition modeling (FDM), 3D printing technology, has the unique advantage of being open source, making it suitable for new improvements. It is being observed that change in printer hardware affects the mechanical properties and physical behavior of the parts prepared by FDM. This article focuses on the effect of different size of nozzle diameter on the dimensional accuracy, printing time, compressive and flexural strength of Polylactic acid (PLA) specimen. The nozzle diameters used for this study are 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 mm, respectively. The smaller diameter nozzle resulted in better accuracy, whereas larger diameter ensured better strength. The maximum compressive strength of 99.57 N/mm2 was found with 0.8 mm nozzle diameter. The maximum flexural strength of 88.30N/mm2 has been obtained with a 0.5 mm nozzle diameter. The in-between layer deformation during the force application is also discussed in the article and opens new development areas.