Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211

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Journal of Manufacturing Processes

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Dimensional accuracy and surface nish of biomedical implant

fabricated as rapid investment casting for small to medium quantity
production
Jaspreet Singh a,b , Rupinder Singh c, , Harwinder Singh d
a
I.K Gujral Punjab Technical University, Kapurthala 144601, India
b
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, India
c
Production Engineering Department, GNDEC, Ludhiana 141006, India
d
Mechanical Engineering Department, GNDEC, Ludhiana 141006, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this work the feasibility of combined route of fused deposition modelling (FDM), chemical vapor
Received 5 May 2016 smoothing (CVS), vacuum casting (VC) and investment Casting (IC) for the development of customized
Received in revised form 4 August 2016 implant for small to medium quantity production has been investigated. Further, an effort has been made
Accepted 28 November 2016
to optimize the dimensional accuracy and surface nish of the implant (hip joint) prepared by varying
two controllable factors (namely: drying time of primary coating and mould thickness) each at three
Keywords:
levels of the IC process. The master pattern of the hip joint has been prepared by FDM followed by the
Fused deposition modelling
CVS process to enhance the surface nish and multiple replicas were produced by the VC process for
Chemical vapor smoothing
Vacuum casting
batch production. The tolerance grades for the selected dimension of the implant/castings were found
Investment casting to be acceptable as per the ISO standard UNI EN 20286-I (1995). Also, the Cpk value greater than 1.3
indicated that the proposed process is statistically controlled.
2016 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ing manufacturing of customized or specialized component, during

The demand for specialized and tailor made product like
biomedical implant is increasing day by day all around the world
at high rates [1]. These implants should be biocompatible as well
as bioactive within the human body [2]. Also, these implants must
have excellent surface quality and dimensional accuracy [3]. Devel-
opment of these implants using an appropriate route so that they
can satisfy all the requirements is the need of todays world. Invest-
ment casting (IC) also known as lost wax casting or precision
casting occupy a key position in the modern metal casting tech-
niques and is widely used for producing complex, intricate shaped
and precision metallic components that requires excellent sur-
face nish and dimensional accuracy [46]. The term IC refers to
the use of ceramic slurry applied or invested around a disposable
pattern usually wax to form a mould with extremely smooth sur-
face qualities [7]. However, IC is considered economical only for
mass production [8]. If the volume is low like in prototyping, dur-
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: rupindersingh78@yahoo.com, singhrupinder@gndec.ac.in
(R. Singh).
design iterations or optimizations, the high cost of wax pattern tool-
ing makes the IC process expensive [8,9]. Rapid prototyping (RP)
becomes one of the feasible solutions used widely in which man-
ufacturing facilities are being utilized for specialized, customized
and low volume production [10,11]. Fused deposition modelling
(FDM) is the most diffused RP technique to construct prototypes
and parts that can be used directly as nished products [1214].
FDM process begins by creating a 3D CAD model of the component
and given as an input to the FDM machine [15]. Then, the materials
like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polycarbonate were
fed into the FDM extrusion head, where they are heated to a semi-
liquid state [16]. The head then deposits the material in thin layers
and each layer bonds to the previous layer by particular material
fabrication technology until the 3D physical model is built [17,18].
This 3D plastic model can be used to replace sacricial wax patterns
in the traditional IC process without any major modications in the
process [18,19] and thus eliminate the expensive tooling required
for making the patterns [20]. The process of employing RP tech-
niques to fabricate sacricial patterns for the IC process is known
as rapid investment casting (RIC) [9]. Also, it enables the engineers
to make changes in design readily [21,22]. Although, FDM process
has been implemented successfully to reduce the product build

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2016.11.012
1526-6125/ 2016 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
202 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211
Fig. 1. Benchmark component.
time and cost, but the surface quality and dimensional accuracy
of the FDM prototypes suffers badly even for basic part geometries
[23]. So, for effective use of RP technology, it becomes necessary
that improvement in surface quality, dimensional accuracy and part
strength are the key issues that have to be addressed [24,25].
Many researchers have directed their effort to improve the
surface nish and dimensional accuracy of FDM prototypes by opti-
mizing the process parameters and part build orientation while
few of them have employed advanced techniques such as barrel
nishing and chemical vapor smoothing. Thrimurthulu et al. [26]
developed a model to improve surface nish and to reduce build
time by optimizing part deposition orientation using adaptive slic-
ing scheme for the FDM process. Surface nish and build time are
the most important concerns and these two generally contradict
with each other. A coded genetic algorithm was used to obtain
the optimal solution. Anitha et al. [27] investigated the effect of
three process parameters, namely layer thickness, road width and
speed of deposition on the surface quality of the FDM fabricated
components and concluded that layer thickness was the most dom-
inating factor affecting the surface roughness. Chakraborty et al.
[28] described a method for the FDM process, in which the lay-
ers are deposited along curved paths instead of horizontal paths
and concluded that this method has the potential to increase the
strength of parts and to reduce the stair-step effect, number of
layers, and ultimately build time. Sood et al. [29] examined the
effect of ve parameters (layer thickness, part build orientation,
raster angle, air gap and raster width) on the dimensional accu-
racy of length, width, thickness and diameter of FDM-made ABS
parts using the Taguchi method. The results indicated that opti-
mum parameter that minimizes the variation in all the responses
were different. So, the common factor settings that simultaneously
show minimum deviation in all the responses had been obtained
using grey Taguchi method. Mohamed et al. [30] tried to study the
inuence of six FDM process parameters (layer thickness, air gap,
raster angle, build orientation, road width and number of contours)
on the percentage change in length, width and thickness using I-
optimality criterion. The optimum parameter settings for all the
three responses were different and the best solution was achieved
by I-optimality criterion. The main advantage of I-optimality cri-
terion is that the optimum settings were not restricted to the
experimental values as in case of grey Taguchi method, so true
optimum settings were achieved using this approach. Galantucci
et al. [31] employed a post-processing technique to improve the
surface nish of FDM fabricated ABS parts by immersing them in a
dimethyl-ketone and water solution (ratio 9:1) and concluded that
by this treatment exural strength as well as surface nish of the
components has improved signicantly along with small variations
in prototype dimensions. Nunez et al. [32] examined the effect of
part density and layer thickness on dimensional accuracy, atness,
and surface texture obtained in FDM with ABS-plus as the model
material and concluded that minimum dimensional deviation was
obtained with layer thickness of 0.254 mm and with solid density.
The Z axis exhibited the worst dimensional behaviour and density
of model interior ll was found to be the parameter affecting most
dimensional precision even more than the layer thickness on the
Z axis. Katatny et al. [33] made investigations regarding the errors
generated during the fabrication process on FDM3000 system by
comparing the dimensions with actual models and concluded that
high level of accuracy has been achieved by the FDM process in
comparison with other RP techniques. Garg et al. [23] investi-
gated the improvement in surface nish and change in dimensional
accuracy of FDM fabricated parts when subjected to cold vapor
treatment of dimethyl-ketone and concluded that by this vapor
treatment the surface nish of the components improved dramati-
cally with minimal variations in part dimensions. From the review
of literature, it has been observed that orientation, layer thickness
and part density (part interior style) are the main factors that affect
the dimensional accuracy and surface nish of FDM prototypes
[23,26,27,29,30,32] and a lot of work has been done to improve
the surface nish and dimensional accuracy of by employing var-
ious techniques such as by optimizing the input parameters, by
utilizing the optimum slicing strategy, or by optimizing part build
orientations. Also, some work has been reported that reveals that
the surface nish of ABS replicas improved signicantly by exposing
them to suitable chemicals at the expense of dimensional accu-
racy [23,31]. But still lot of scope has been observed to determine
the effect of combined process of FDM and CVS on dimensional
accuracy and surface nish of fabricated replicas.
Another challenge with RP technologies is that they are not pre-
ferred for small to medium quantity production due to the high cost
involved and also have limited range in terms of material selec-
tion [34]. This requires the need of developing rapid tooling (RT),
which is an extension of RP. It is the technology that utilizes the RP
and applies them to the manufacturing of various tools [24,35]. RP
cuts down product development time and RT cuts down the pro-
duction time [36]. Further, RT can be classied as either direct or
indirect. Direct tooling techniques are those which utilize additive
manufacturing (AM) techniques for the fabrication of the mould
and then these moulds are used for producing prototypes of var-
ious materials [37]. Indirect tooling involves fabrication of mould
from an AM master pattern, which is then used to manufacture mul-
tiple prototypes. Silicone rubber tooling (RTV), epoxy resin tooling
and spray metal tooling are some common examples of indirect
RT. Silicone moulding (SM) is an established prototyping technique
widely used in industry to produce wax patterns [38,39] and vari-
ous types of plastic parts due to high chemical resistance of silicone
rubber and low interfacial energy of its surface [38]. Some studies
have been reported as an indirect approach for producing wax pat-
terns via silicone rubber moulding from RP based master pattern
to reduce the costs associated with single-part or small-quantity
production during the investment casting process [8]. Yarlagadda
et al. [40] compared the accuracy of wax patterns produced by hard
(PU mould) and soft tooling (RTV mould) and concluded that for soft
tooling, injection temperature is the only parameter that affects the
dimensional accuracy. Singh et al. [41] fabricated the plastic com-
 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211 203

Fig. 2. Methodology of the study.

Table 1
Input parameters, their levels and optimal parameter settings for the two stages.

Stage 1 Process Parameters Unit Levels Range of Ra and d Optimal settings

1 2 3

Stage 1 FDM Orientation degree 0 90 Ra : 5.006-8.742 m 90
d: 0.040.19 mm
Part density High Low Solid High
CVS No. of cycles 3 4 5 Ra : 0.144-0.159 m 5
Cycle time sec 4 6 8 d: 0.010.14 mm 4

Stage 2 VC PU material 6130 PX223 PX223

Hardener % 90 95 100 Ra : 0.3191.640 m 100

Curing temperature C 70 80 90 d: 0.080.58 mm 70
Curing time min 45 55 65 45

ponent using SM process and highlighted the process capability of on vacuum casting (VC) process to fabricate polyurethanes (PU)
SM in-terms of dimensional accuracy. Further, many researchers replicas for RIC applications. Also, it has been suggested by the
successfully fabricate sacricial wax patterns for IC process by RTV researchers that the dimensional accuracy of the traditional IC pro-
mould process [40,42,43] but very little work has been reported cess for complex and intricate shapes can be increased by replacing
204 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211
Fig. 3. Specimens after casting.
Table 2
Parameters and their levels for IC process.
Stage 3 Mould thickness
Drying time of primary coating
Parameters
conventional wax based pattern with the modern plastic based
patterns [20].
Keeping in mind gaps in the literature, the researcher rst tried
to investigate the feasibility of the combined route of FDM, CVS, VC
and IC process for the development of specialized or customized
products such as biomedical implant for small to medium quan-
tity production. After that, an effort has been done to investigate
the inuence of two input parameters of IC process, namely drying
time of primary coating and mould thickness on the dimensional
accuracy and surface nish of biomedical implant (hip joint) fab-
ricated as RIC. The optimization of process parameters has been
done to obtain the optimum parameter settings and it has been also
checked that whether the tolerance of the casted components is
consistent with the permissible range of tolerance grades as per ISO
standards. In order to check the repeatability and consistency of the
process, the process capability analysis for the selected dimension
has also been done.
2. Methodology and experimentation
In this research work, a component of biomedical application
(hip joint) as shown in Fig. 1 has been selected as the benchmark.
The hip joint is basically a ball-and-socket joint. The socket is made
of bone and cartilage, and the ball is the head of the thigh bone
(femoral head). During the hip replacement surgery, the damaged
B number of layers 7 8 9
A min 330 360 390
Symbol Unit Levels
1 2 3
hip joint is replaced with metal, plastic or ceramic components.
Generally, the ball (femoral head) is removed and replaced with
new and durable articial synthetic part. The CAD model of the
component has been made using Solidworks software and then
converted into .STL le. The master pattern of the hip joint has been
fabricated from the .STL le by FDM technique followed by CVS
process to enhance its surface nish. After that, multiple replicas
of PU material were manufactured by vacuum casting (VC) process
that reduces the cost of RP and also acts as sacricial pattern in IC
process. IC begins with joining the PU replicas to a wax tree fol-
lowed by number of layers of stucco coating of ceramic material
for imparting strength to the mould. Baking of the mould is then
carried out in a furnace at around 900 C. During the baking process,
the PU replica suddenly come out of the mould in the gaseous state
and leaves the shell for pouring the molten metal. Before pouring,
compressed air was passed through the shell for removing any ash
content that left during the baking process. Castings were produced
with a biocompatible grade of stainless steel (316L) under recom-
mended parameters. Experiments were conducted twice in order
to check the repeatability and to minimize the error. The complete
methodology of the study has been shown in Fig. 2.
The controllable factors and their levels during each process
have been decided on the basis of an extensive literature review
and pilot experimentation. From the review of literature, it has been
observed that orientation, layer thickness and part density (part
J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211 205

Fig. 4. Surface roughness (Ra ) graphs of each casting.

206 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211

Table 3 (SR) has been taken to represent the dimensional accuracy and sur-
Control log of Experimentation.
face nish respectively (Fig. 3). One selected dimension of all the
S.No Drying time of primary Mould thickness PU replicas and corresponding castings was measured by coordi-
coating (min) (number of layers) nate measuring machine (CMM) and deviation has been identied.
1 330 7 Surface roughness (Ra value) of all the castings has been measured
2 330 8 at femur part by Mitutoyo SJ-210 roughness tester at 0.5 mm/sec
3 330 9 stylus speed, cut-off length at 0.25 mm and X at 5. The reason
4 360 7
for selecting Ra value in order to measure the surface roughness
5 360 8
6 360 9 was that it employs an algorithm that averages the absolute val-
7 390 7 ues of the prole height deviations from the mean line on the
8 390 8 entire surface within the sampling length and then neutralizes the
9 390 9
few outlying points so that the extreme points have no signicant
impact on the nal results (as described in ASME B46.1). Also, it is a
interior style) are the main factors that affect the surface nish and simple and effective method for monitoring the surface texture and
dimensional accuracy of FDM prototypes. Layer thickness has been ensuring consistency in measurement of multiple surfaces. The sur-
kept constant (0.254 mm) in this study because it has very little face roughness (Ra ) graphs obtained during each experiment have
effect on surface roughness after chemical treatment [44]. Simi- been shown in Fig. 4.
larly, one of the parameter selected to be varied in CVS process Signal to noise (S/N) ratio has been calculated in order to predict
was number of cycles i.e. number of times the prototypes were the variation caused by each factor. The advantage of using S/N ratio
exposed to chemical vapors and the second was cycle time. The is that it uses a single measure, mean square deviation (MSD), which
optimal replica obtained after the model fabrication stage (FDM & incorporates the effect of changes in mean as well as the variation
CVS process) with regard to dimensional accuracy and surface nish (standard deviation) with equal priority [20]. The main objective of
would act as a master pattern for the VC process. The input param- this research work is to obtain both the d and SR to be minimum.
eters varied during the creation of multiple replicas by VC process Therefore, S/N ratios were calculated using Eq. (1) on the basis of
were PU material, hardener percentage, curing temperature and lower is better approach for both the responses.
curing time. The level selected for various parameters along with  
1 2
r
the optimum results with regard to dimensional accuracy and sur-
face nish during the two stages (model fabrication and creation of S/N = 10 log Yi (1)
r
multiple replicas) have been shown in Table 1. i=1
In IC process, there is no direct way to control the thickness
of the mould except by controlling the number of ceramic slurry Yi = Observed value of the response characteristic, r = Number of
layers. Higher the number of slurry layers more will be the thick- repetitions.
ness of the mould. The mould thickness affects the strength of the Analysis of the experimental results has been made by using
mould as well as the cooling rate of the castings [45]. Observation MINITAB 17 statistical software package [46]. The d and SR along
made from pilot experimentation indicates that with less than 7 with signal to noise ratio for both the responses has been shown in
number of slurry layers, the IC shell gets cracked while pouring Table 4. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) has been performed on S/N
the molten metal. Based on the pilot experimentation and liter- ratio of both the responses for testing and analyzing the results.
ature review, level for the two selected parameters in IC process It helps in predicting the signicance of each input factor and its
has been shown in Table 2. Taguchis orthogonal array has been percentage contribution on the desired response. In ANOVA, the
selected to plan and analyze the experiments. In this study, the sum sum of squares (SS), degree of freedom (DOF), variance (V), F-Ratio
of number of degrees of freedom for the selected two parameters and the percentage contribution of each factor are calculated. SS is
is 4; accordingly the most suitable orthogonal array with three- a measure of deviations of the experimental data from the mean
level variables was distinguished as L9 with 8 of freedom. Since data value. Percentage contribution denes its signicance rate
the experimental design requires only 4 of freedom, the remain- on the output response. Higher the percentage contribution, the
ing dofs has been utilized to measure the experimental error. The more will be the effect of the input factor on the output. By con-
control log of experimentation is shown in Table 3. trolling the factors with high contribution, the total variation can
be reduced leading to improvement of process performance. The
3. Results and discussion ANOVA result for the S/N ratios of d and SR has been shown in
Tables 5 and 6 respectively. The P-value less than 0.05 (i.e. = 0.05,
After casting, the effect of selected input parameters has been or 95% condence) in Tables 5 and 6 indicates that the model terms
studied on the dimensional accuracy and surface nish. In this are signicant. So, in case of d, B is the signicant model term and
research work, dimensional deviation (d) and surface roughness in case of SR, A is the signicant model term. Larger F-value for any

Table 4
d and SR along with S/N ratio.

S.No Dimensional deviation (mm) S/N ratio Surface roughness, Ra (m) S/N ratio

R1 R2 Average R1 R2 Average

1 0.305 0.301 0.303 10.37 2.140 2.156 2.148 6.64

2 0.180 0.188 0.184 14.70 2.235 2.257 2.246 7.03
3 0.060 0.062 0.061 24.29 2.088 2.120 2.104 6.46
4 0.324 0.320 0.322 9.84 1.921 1.875 1.898 5.57
5 0.159 0.165 0.162 15.81 1.822 1.788 1.805 5.13
6 0.091 0.093 0.092 20.72 1.753 1.759 1.756 4.89
7 0.360 0.354 0.357 8.95 1.666 1.602 1.634 4.27
8 0.242 0.246 0.244 12.25 1.531 1.499 1.515 3.61
9 0.102 0.10 0.101 19.91 1.584 1.602 1.593 4.04
 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211 207

Table 5
ANOVA results for d.

Source DOF Adj SS Adj MS F-value P-value % Contribution

A 2 11.647 5.823 3.39 0.138 4.94

B 2 217.327 108.663 63.18 0.001 92.15
Error 4 6.880 1.720 2.91
Total 8 235.853

Model summary

S R-sq R-sq (adj) R-sq (pred)

1.3014 0.9708 0.9417 0.8523

Table 6
ANOVA results for SR.

Source DOF Adj SS Adj MS F-value P-value % Contribution

A 2 11.2826 5.6412 52.86 0.001 94.80

B 2 0.1992 0.0995 0.93 0.465 1.67
Error 4 0.4269 0.10673 3.59
Total 8 11.9087

Model summary

S R-sq R-sq (adj) R-sq (pred)

0.3266 0.9642 0.9283 0.8185

Table 7
Calculations of IT grades.

Exp No Nominal Measured Fundamental Tolerance value IT grade

dimension (mm) dimension (mm) tolerance i (m) n

1 24.945 24.642 1.3072 231.78 IT13

2 24.945 24.761 1.3072 140.75 IT12
3 24.945 24.884 1.3072 46.66 IT9
4 24.945 24.623 1.3072 246.31 IT13
5 24.945 24.783 1.3072 123.92 IT11
6 24.945 24.853 1.3072 70.37 IT10
7 24.945 24.588 1.3072 273.08 IT13
8 24.945 24.701 1.3072 186.64 IT12
9 24.945 24.844 1.3072 77.26 IT10

Table 8
Constraints and optimum values suggested by the software.

Name Goal Lower limit Upper limit Weight Importance

Drying time of primary coating Constraint to region 330 390 1 1

Mould thickness Constraint to region 7 9 1 1
S/N ratio for d Maximize 8.95 24.29 1 1
S/N ratio for SR Maximize 7.03 3.61 1 1

Optimum values

Drying time of primary coating Mould thickness S/N ratio (d) S/N ratio (SR) Desirability

390 9 20.14 3.81 0.828

factor indicates that variation in this factor causes large variation
in performance characteristics.
Figs. 5 and 6 shows the main effect plot of various factors on
d and SR respectively. Fig. 5 shows that d decreases with
increase in mould wall thickness and was minimum with 9 number
of layers. With 7 number of layers d was maximum and this was
due to the lesser mould wall thickness which resulted into higher
heat transfer rate and ultimately more shrinkage occurs. As the
number of layers increases, heat transfer rate as well as shrinkage
decreases which results in lesser deviation. The results are in line
with the observations made by other investigators [47]. Also, d
increases slightly with increase in drying time of primary coating,
but its effect was not signicant as observed from lesser F-value
in Table 5. Fig. 6 shows that Ra value decreases with increase in
drying time of primary coating and was minimum with time of
390 min. This was due to the removal of moisture present in the
ceramic shell with increase in drying time of primary coating. It
is similar to the results obtained by [48]. Ra value also improves
slightly with an increase in mould thickness and this may be due
to variation in heat transfer rate but its effect was not signicant as
observed from lesser F-value in Table 6.
3.1. Calculation of tolerance grades
In order to nd the tolerance grades, rst the measured dimen-
sion have been used to evaluate the tolerance unit n that derives
from the fundamental tolerance i, as dened in ISO standard UNI
EN 20286-I(1995). Also, the fundamental tolerance i is not eval-
208 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211

Fig. 5. a) Mean S/N ratios for d b) Mean graph for d.

Fig. 6. a) Mean S/N ratios for SR b) Mean graph for SR.

uated separately for each nominal size, but for a range of nominal
sizes. The fundamental tolerance i and tolerance unit n is calcu-
lated as follows [11,49]:
3 n = 1000(24.94524.642)/1.3073 = 231.77
i = 0.45 D + 0.001D
D D 
N M
n = 1000
i
Where: D is the geometric mean of range of nominal size, DN is
the nominal dimension, DM is the measured dimension, i is the
fundamental tolerance in m.
In this research work, the linear dimension as shown in Fig. 1
(24.945 mm after VC process) has been taken as nominal dimen-
sion. The standard basic step for this dimension is 1830 mm. For
experiment 1, the value of n is calculated as follows:
D = (18 30)1/2 = 23.237 mm
i = 0.45(23.237)1/3 + 0.001(23.237) = 1.3072
(2)
(3)
Similarly, the values of n for all the experimental runs were
calculated and the corresponding IT grades have been obtained as
shown in Table 8.
It has been observed from Table 7 that in all the experiments,
the measured dimension is less than the nominal dimension. It is
due to the shrinkage that occurs during solidication of the cast-
ing as the metal changes state from liquid to solid. This shrinkage
is generally compensated by providing shrinkage allowance to the
pattern. Further, the IT grades of the component prepared by this
rapid investment casting (RIC) are consistent with the permissi-
ble range of tolerance grades as per ISO standard UNI EN 20286-I
(1995).
 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211 209

Fig. 7. Histogram of observed values along with Cp and Cpk values of the process.

Fig. 8. Normal distribution curve for observed values.

4. Optimization and conrmation experiments
Higher the S/N ratio, more favourable is the effect of input vari-
able on the response. From Figs. 4 and 5, the optimum factor levels
with highest S/N ratio have been identied in order to achieve the
maximum dimensional accuracy and surface nish. So, the opti-
mum parameter settings for maximum dimensional accuracy are
A1 and B3. Similarly, the optimum parameter settings for maxi-
mum surface nish are A3 and B3 . From Tables 5 and 6, it has been
observed that signicant factors and their percentage contribution
for the two output responses are different. Similarly, the optimum
parameter levels for the two responses are also different. So, instead
of optimizing the individual response in an arbitrarily manner, it
has been desirable to obtain the parameter settings that simulta-
neously minimizes the d and SR. In order to achieve the above
objective, the response optimization module of Minitab 17 soft-
ware has been used. The constraints set and the optimum values
along with the desirability suggested by the software have been
shown in Table 8.
The calculated d and Ra corresponding to S/N ratio of 20.14
& 3.81 are 0.098 mm & 1.550 m respectively. In order to check
the validity of the results suggested by the software, two conrma-
210 J. Singh et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 25 (2017) 201211
Table 9
Observations of selected dimension at optimum parameter setting.
S.No Observations
1 24.842
2 24.846
3 24.851
4 24.839
5 24.849
6 24.845
7 24.850
8 24.846
9 24.841
10 24.835
11 24.848
12 24.847
tion tests were performed at optimum parameter values as given
in Table 8. The d and Ra for the two conrmation tests were
found to be (0.096 mm, 0.099 mm) & (1.593 m, 1.581 m) respec-
tively. This conrms excellent reproducibility of the experimental
conclusions.
5. Calculation of process capability
Further, in order to check whether the process is statistically
controlled or not, 12 samples were casted with optimum parame-
ter settings. The selected dimension of nal castings measured with
CMM along with calculated IT grade was shown in Table 9. After that
the Cp and Cpk values of the process and histogram of observed val-
ues have been obtained by QI Macros 2015 software as shown in
Fig. 7. Basically, Cp and Cpk are the process capability indices used
to measure the potential ability of a process to produce acceptable
output by meeting the specied requirements [50]. The prerequi-
site for computing Cp and Cpk is that the process is required to be
under statistical control and that the data are normally distributed
[51,52].
In this work, corresponding to Cpk value of 1.44 for the selected
dimension, area under the normal curve is 0.99997973 and non-
conrming parts per million is 20.27. It means that the process will
produce conforming products as long as it remains in statistical
control. Further, normal probability plot (Ref. Fig. 8) shows that
the data are normally distributed. The observed values are plotted
on the X-axis against a theoretical normal distribution (z-scores) on
the Y-axis [52]. A regression line is drawn from these XY pair which
shows points closer to the regression line and thus indicating a good
t.
6. Conclusions
From this research work, the following conclusions have been
made:
The combined route of FDM, CVS, VC and IC has been found fea-
sible for the development of specialized or customized products
such as biomedical implant for small to medium quantity pro-
duction.
Mould thickness affects the dimensional accuracy signicantly
and d decreases with increase in mould wall thickness and
was found to be minimum with 9 number of layers.
Drying time of primary coating affects the surface nish signif-
icantly and Ra value decreases with increase in drying time of
primary coating and was minimum with time of 390 min.
The tolerance grades for the selected dimension of the castings
were found to be acceptable as per the ISO standard UNI EN
20286-I (1995).
The Cpk value greater than 1.3 for the same dimension indicated
that the proposed process is highly capable.
IT grade
IT10
Acknowledgements
IT10
IT10
IT10 The authors are thankful to Manufacturing Research Lab
IT10 (GNDEC, Ludhiana) and IKGPTU, Jalandhar for providing the
IT10 research facilities. The authors are also thankful to Mr. Gurpreet
IT10
IT10
Singh Phull (Associate Dean, Lovely Professional University) and
IT10 Mr. Puran Singh (Lab technician, GNDEC, Ludhiana) for providing
IT10 their technical support.
IT10
IT10
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