Selection of Build Orientation in FDM with Allowed Maximum Tensile Strain

FDM is one of popular rapid prototyping methods. Build orientation of an object using FDM is usually determined by the object’s structure after considering build feasibility, build efficiency, and build accuracy. In this paper, a novel object build orientation selection method in FDM is proposed based on the tensile strain of an object to be built. Test specimens with different build orientations are built with FDM to investigate the relationship between build orientation and allowed maximum tensile strain through tensile test experiments. Based on the relationship, golden section search is employed to determine the build orientation of an object consisting of multi-parts in order to get allowed maximum tensile strain. The build orientation of a truss is determined with the proposed method to verify its feasibility and reliability with satisfied results.