FDM Part Quality Manufactured with ULTEM 9085

Generative production techniques have the advantage of manufacturing parts via an additive process without needing a forming tool. One of these additive manufacturing technologies is “Fused Deposition Modeling” (FDM). From a 3D-CAD data set, components and assemblies are manufactured out of thermoplastic material in only a few working steps. Native software automatically slices the data, calculates the support structures, and creates toolpaths. The parts then are built up layer by layer by means of an additive process. An extrusion head deposits the molten thermoplastic filament to create each layer. This technology began as a process for creating prototype parts; recently it has found new utility in the production of manufacturing tools and as a manufacturing process for end-use parts. In order to be used as a part for serial production, the components must possess the required mechanical properties. To this end, not only is the chosen material relevant, but a correct process control is also necessary. An interesting material for the aircraft and automotive industry is the material PEI with the trade name Ultem*9085. This material should typically be used on FDM-machines for the manufacturing of end products. The aim of the research is to determine the present mechanical data based on the process control, as well as reproducibility from job to job. In this work the influence of the orientation and the structure of the manufactured parts based on the mechanical data are analyzed. Sample parts are generated with the given parameters of the native software based upon the CAD data. First, specimens were analyzed concerning their geometry and configuration. The dimensions and weight were measured. The mechanical tests conducted were the tensile and compression tests.