Development of Open-Source FDM Printer to Produce Casting Patterns and Analysis of Printed Parts for Dimensional Accuracy

Abstract

Most of the foundry industries in developed countries are shutting down or relocating in developing country, owing to stringent environmental regulations. India, as the fastest growing economy and high human resource, has the better opportunity to fix the leadership in the foundry industry, in the recent future. In ‘SMART Foundry 2020’ project, an IoT enabled, integrated smart manufacturing system is being developed. As a part of the project, FDM process is selected for printing the patterns of designs to cast. The FDM process must print dimensionally accurate patterns. This literature discusses the issues associated with the open-source design of the printer and a systematic solution for each problem. The improved design is calibrated for movement accuracy along each axis. The effect of modifications in FDM printer over accuracy and the precision of the printed part are analyzed.