Characterization of power demand and energy consumption for fused filament fabrication using CFR-PEEK

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to model power demand and energy consumption of fused filament fabrication (FFF) for carbon fiber-reinforced polyether-ether-ketone (CFR-PEEK) based on a material addition rate (MAR), which is affected by process parameter changes in an FFF machine. Moreover, a virtual additive manufacturing (AM) plant handling multiple FFF machines and part designs is simulated to compare the energy and production dynamics of operational strategies that treat part orders differently based on their inherent MAR. Design/methodology/approach A full-factorial design of experiments considering major FFF parameters (i.e., layer thickness and printing speed) is planned to fabricate CFR-PEEK samples for each process parameter combination. Then, the MAR of each process parameter combination is calculated to derive regression models for average power demand and total energy consumption. Furthermore, a discrete-event simulation model for a virtual AM system of aircraft parts is built to analyze changes in power demand and energy consumption along with order lead time and production volume under three operational strategies (i.e., higher MAR first-out, first-in-first-out, and lower MAR first-out). Findings The MAR of FFF for CFR-PEEK plays a key role in energy dynamics in which a decrease in energy consumption dominates over an increase in power demand as the MAR increases. Furthermore, preferentially processing parts with a higher MAR in the AM system is the most beneficial strategy in both energy consumption and productivity. Originality/value The findings from this study show that the energy performance of CFR-PEEK applications in FFF should be understood with the MAR of an AM system because the impact of AM complexity on energy performance can be operationally controlled by managing the MAR of part orders for the entire AM system.