Numerical simulation of the extrusion process of viscoplastic materials using a radial point interpolation method

Purpose Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is an extrusion-based manufacturing process using fused thermoplastics. Despite its low cost, the FFF is not extensively used in high-value industrial sectors mainly due to parts' anisotropy (related to the deposition strategy) and residual stresses (caused by successive heating cycles). Thus, this study aims to investigate the process improvement and the optimization of the printed parts. Design/methodology/approach In this work, a meshless technique – the Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM) – is used to numerically simulate the viscoplastic extrusion process – the initial phase of the FFF. Unlike the FEM, in meshless methods, there is no pre-established relationship between the nodes so the nodal mesh will not face mesh distortions and the discretization can easily be modified by adding or removing nodes from the initial nodal mesh. The accuracy of the obtained results highlights the importance of using meshless techniques in this field. Findings Meshless methods show particular relevance in this topic since the nodes can be distributed to match the layer-by-layer growing condition of the printing process. Originality/value Using the flow formulation combined with the heat transfer formulation presented here for the first time within an in-house RPIM code, an algorithm is proposed, implemented and validated for benchmark examples.