DOI: 10.

2478/aucts-2018-0009
ACTA UNIVERSITATIS CIBINIENSIS – TECHNICAL SERIES
Vol. LXX 2018
STUDY REGARDING THE OPTIMAL MILLING PARAMETERS FOR FINISHING 3D
PRINTED PARTS FROM ABS AND PLA MATERIALS

PĂMĂRAC Răzvan Gabriel

Faculty of Engineering/Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, "Lucian Blaga" University,
Sibiu, Romania, [email protected]

PETRUSE Radu Emanuil

Faculty of Engineering/Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, "Lucian Blaga" University,
Sibiu, Romania, [email protected]

Abstract: In this paper we proposed to identify the optimum milling parameter required for finishing
processes performed on 3Dprinted parts from ABS and PLA materials. We have identified the optimum milling
parameters for a constant spindle speed of 3500 rot/min for face milling and profile contouring operations with
different tools diameters. The study was performed on 3D printed specimens from ABS and PLA materials.

Key words: Additive Manufacturing, Roughness, CNC milling

1. Introduction
Additive manufacturing (AM) can be defined as a fabrication process where lot size one, end-user parts with a
high geometrical complexity can be rapidly obtained with low energy consumption. From its earliest stages,
AM has been identified as a method for rapid prototyping of parts that display a high level of complexity and
in some cases, impossible to be manufactured with conventional methods (e.g. CNC machining). Despite the
advantages that AM offer, it has yet to be included into industrial mass production lines, as an alternative to
conventional manufacturing techniques, due to high manufacturing times and the lack in repeatability and
process stability. In some cases, this might not be a significant issue, but in some industrial purposes, where
high precision parts are required, there are restrictions with the outer layer’s rough surfaces and lack in precision.
In order to meet these limitations, additional finishing process are required.
While there are some process that can address this issues with different results, as identified in [1] where the
finishing process involves bathing the finished product in acetone based solution, where the surfaces are
smoothen to an acceptable roughness degree as depicted by the ISO 4287:1997 [2] standard, but with
considerable changes in dimensional properties of the finished part, proportional with the time the material is
exposed. While this method is accepted for correcting roughness, it can lack precision thus more effective
methods are needed.
An alternative to the chemical bathing can be considered the hot cutter machining (HCM), which is a method
of removing material from the surfaces of the part. The main disadvantage of this method is that it cannot be
used with complex geometry parts. As depicted in [3] this technology can produce parts with 0.3 μm with 87%
confidence level.
This article will focus mainly on the third alternative for finishing the surfaces of the materials, the material
subtraction technique thus studying the effects on the usage of milling cutter CNC machines with limited RMP
on the finishing process of the surface of additive manufacturing pars.

2. Methodology
For this research, we chose fused deposition modelling (FDM) as the AM technology. From previous studies
that we have conducted [4] [5], we chose the optimum parameters for dimensional precision and tensile strength
for the 3D printed samples used in this study.
The finishing processes studied, are to be conducted on a 3-axis CNC milling machine: DMC 635V eco (fig.
1). The main characteristics include: a machining area of 635 [mm] on the X axis; 510 [mm] on the Y axis; 460
[mm] on the Z axis. The maximum spindle rotation is 9000 [rpm]. Main application is for medium and high
precision manufacturing, up to 0.01 [mm].
In general, coolants are not required for most machining thermoplastic materials. However, petroleum-based
fluids can be used for many semi-crystalline plastics such as nylon, acetal, polyesters, PTFE and most

© 2018 “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu

thermosets. Avoidance of this type of coolant is generally a good practice if any amorphous materials are
being machined as it can be difficult to determine the compatibility. [6]
During the experiments we chose to use pressurised air. In addition, to the cooling effect that the pressurized air
has, it is also used to remove the residual material resulted from the milling process and it’s useful in avoiding
the chip wrap.

Figure 1 DMC 635 V eco Figure 2 Ultimaker Pro 3D printer

As for the 3D printer we used the “Ultimaker Pro 3D” printer which has a semi closed printing chamber. We
chose this printer due to the high possibilities of varying the fabrication parameters that its software permits.
The 3D printer is driven by G-Code generated with the “CURA” software. The same printing technique was
used throughout the printing of all the specimens, with the particularities for each type of plastic, in order to
obtain a consistency for the roughness parameters of the specimens.
The materials used to fabricate the specimens are:
- ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) with the optimum printing temperature between 240 and 255°C
with the solidification temperature ranging between 60 to 100 °C
- PLA (Polylactic acid) – for PLA the printing temperature is ranging between 220 and 230°C with a lower
solidification temperature than ABS, between 60 and 20°C
From each type of material mentioned above 6 specimens are fabricated, with 2 mm added on each exterior
surface that will be removed during the finishing process.
The specimen’s walls are 4 mm thick and the infill has a gyroid structure. The reason for choosing the gyroid
infiill structure is that it exercises the least amount of presure on the walls of the specimen and during the
milling process it dissipates the milling forces through the entire specimen.

Figure 3 Gyroid structure

The 3D model of the specimens was designed using Catia V5 CAD [7] software and because no specimen
standard that is used for roughness determination for thermoplastic materials, we designed a model that includes
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the most common geometrical features. We also kept in mind that our specimen must have the geometry
designed in such a way that several milling operations commonly used in industry can be performed: face
milling, profile contouring and pocketing.

Figure 4 Specimen design and milling dimmensions

Figure 5 Specimens prior to finishing processes

The G-Code for the milling process has been generated using “SprutCAM 11.5” CAM software, as
showed bellow the tool followed a climbing path on the selected contour both for the Ø6 mm and the Ø12 mm
mill.

Figure 6. Ø6 mm end mill climb trajectory Figure 7. Ø12 mm end mill climb trajectory

Figure 8 Specimens after the finishing operations

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2.1. Milling parameters:
$∗&∗'
𝑉" = (m/min) 𝑎𝑒 = 1 ∗ 𝐷
()))
()))∗/"
𝑛= (rev/min) 𝑎𝑝 = 0.5 ∗ 𝐷
$∗&
𝑉𝑓 = 𝑓𝑧 ∗ 𝑧 ∗ 𝑛 ∗ 𝑘 = 𝑓 ∗ 𝑛(mm/min)

𝑉" – Cutting speed(m/min); D –Cutter diameter (mm); n – Spindle speed (rev/min); 𝑉8 – Feed speed; 𝑓9 –
Feed per tooth(mm/tooth); f – Feed per rev(mm/rev); z – Number of teeth; ap -depth of cut; ae – width of cut;
K – Correction coefficient.
The milling parameters used are presented in table 1:

Table 1: Chosen milling parameters

Parameter Ø6mm end mill Ø12mm end mill
𝑛 (constant) 3500 (rot/min) 3500 (rev/min)
𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒 𝑉" 180 (m/min) with K 0.7 180 (m/min) with K 0.7
supplier’s catalogue 𝑓9 0.04 (mm/tooth) 0.06 (mm/tooth)
Resulted 𝑉8 280 (mm/min) 420 (mm/min)

The tools used for finishing the specimen parts are a Ø6mm and a Ø12mm solid carbide end mill described in
table 2.

Table 2: Solid carbide end mills properties

𝑎𝑒 = 6 𝑎𝑒 = 12
𝑎𝑝 = 3 𝑎𝑝 = 6
L = 40mm L = 60mm
L = 10mm L = 10mm
D=d=6 D=d=6
Helix angle 45 ° Helix angle 45 °
Z=2 Z=2

2.2. Roughness measurements

The roughness measured with the “Mitutoyo Surftest sj-301” and “Taylor-Hobson Surtronic 3+”.

Figure 9. Roughness measurement with “Taylor Hobson Surtronic 3+” measuring probe

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 Figure 10. Roughness measurement with “Mitutoyo Surftest sj-301”

We studied the influence that different milling processes and the 𝑉8 parameter has on the roughness of the
sample’s surfaces. The studied values are analysed using the following criteria:
- Rt – average distance between the highest peak and lowest valley in each sampling length.
- Ra – arithmetical mean deviation of the assessed profile
- Rz – five highest peaks and lowest valleys over the entire sampling length.
The studied surfaces are depicted in figure 11.

Figure 11. Part surfaces used for determining the roughness value

Prior to the machining finishing process the average roughness couldn’t be measured on the PLA parts due to
the high values that were out of the roughness tester’s range. However, on ABS parts the surfaces roughness
could be measured but the resulted values were very high: Rt = 10.4µm, Rz 4.91µm and Ra 0.894µm.

3. Results and discussion

For the tests performed on ABS and PLA fabricated parts we obtained the optimum values for 𝑉8 for different
milling processes and different end mills. The results can be visualized on figures 12,13,14 and 15.
The optimum 𝑉8 values can be analysed in table 2.
Table 2: Optimum resulted 𝑽𝒇
Specimen’s material Milling process Milling tool Optimum resulted 𝑉8
ABS Face milling Ø6mm end mill Between 140 and 280 (mm/min)
ABS Contour milling Ø6mm end mill Between 35 and 140 (mm/min)
ABS Face milling Ø12mm end mill Until 210 and after 900 (mm/min)
ABS Contour milling Ø12mm end mill Around 105 and after 1200 (mm/min)
PLA Face milling Ø6mm end mill Around 800 (mm/min)
PLA Contour milling Ø6mm end mill After 1000 (mm/min)
PLA Face milling Ø12mm end mill Around 200 and 850 (mm/min)
PLA Contour milling Ø12mm end mill Around 1300 (mm/min)

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 Face milling Contour milling
Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra
1 ABS 6 3500 35 0.9 0.63 0.119 1 ABS 6 3500 35 2.75 2.36 0.505
2 ABS 6 3500 70 1.39 1.06 0.177 2 ABS 6 3500 70 3.03 2.39 0.505
3 ABS 6 3500 140 0.77 0.657 0.118 3 ABS 6 3500 140 3.21 2.48 0.543
4 ABS 6 3500 280 0.88 0.687 0.137 4 ABS 6 3500 280 19.4 12.2 1.85
5 ABS 6 3500 560 2.81 0.47 0.47 5 ABS 6 3500 560 3.67 2.86 0.575
6 ABS 6 3500 840 4.99 3.55 0.887 6 ABS 6 3500 840 3.28 3.13 0.696

20
18 Rt
5
16
Rt 14 Rz
4
Rz 12 Ra
3 10
Ra 8
2 6
4
1
2
0 0
35 70 140 280 560 840 35 70 140 280 560 840

Figure 12. Roughness values for ABS parts after the machining with the Ø6mm end mill

Face milling Contour milling

Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra
1 ABS 12 3500 52.5 0.76 0.53 0.105 1 ABS 12 3500 52.5 4.43 2.86 0.624
2 ABS 12 3500 105 0.96 0.652 0.125 2 ABS 12 3500 105 3.47 2.73 0.643
3 ABS 12 3500 210 0.83 0.665 0.126 3 ABS 12 3500 210 6.33 4.33 0.843
4 ABS 12 3500 420 10.4 4.91 0.894 4 ABS 12 3500 420 5.37 3.64 0.724
5 ABS 12 3500 840 1.52 1.18 0.28 5 ABS 12 3500 840 4.66 3.85 0.754
6 ABS 12 3500 1260 2.26 1.6 0.314 6 ABS 12 3500 1260 3.71 2.85 0.639

12 7 Rt

6 Rz
10 Rt
5 Ra
8 Rz
Ra 4
6
3
4 2
2 1

0 0
52.5 105 210 420 840 1260 52.5 105 210 420 840 1260

Figure 13. Roughness values for ABS parts after the machining with the Ø12mm end mill

Face milling Contour milling

Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra
1 PLA 6 3500 35 12.6 9.77 1.86 1 PLA 6 3500 35 N/A N/A N/A
2 PLA 6 3500 140 7.27 5.1 1.02 2 PLA 6 3500 140 N/A N/A N/A
3 PLA 6 3500 280 9.78 5.68 1.16 3 PLA 6 3500 280 8.28 4.55 0.923
4 PLA 6 3500 560 5.41 3.85 0.76 4 PLA 6 3500 560 7.77 5.14 1.08
5 PLA 6 3500 840 3.88 3.19 0.625 5 PLA 6 3500 840 5.25 4.29 0.803
6 PLA 6 3500 1880 9.59 5.79 1.15 6 PLA 6 3500 1088 3.72 3.07 0.601

13 10
9
11
8
9 7
7 Rt 6 Rt
5
5 Rz Rz
4
3 Ra 3 Ra
2
1
1
-1 35 140 280 560 840 1880 0
35 140 280 560 840 1088

Figure 14. Roughness values for PLA parts after the machining with the Ø6mm end mill
Face milling Contour milling

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 Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra Specimen no. Material D n Vf Rt Rz Ra
1 PLA 12 3500 52.5 16.3 10.5 2.17 1 PLA 12 3500 52.5 17.1 10.4 2.01
2 PLA 12 3500 210 4.95 3.3 0.695 2 PLA 12 3500 210 20.1 15.5 3.46
3 PLA 12 3500 420 10.2 6.47 1.39 3 PLA 12 3500 420 7.69 5.23 1.07
4 PLA 12 3500 840 3.85 3.19 0.63 4 PLA 12 3500 840 8.71 5.01 0.971
5 PLA 12 3500 1260 6.03 3.97 0.705 5 PLA 12 3500 1260 4.03 3.09 0.593
6 PLA 12 3500 1680 8.54 5.78 1.16 6 PLA 12 3500 1680 5.54 4.14 0.924

16.5 20
14.5
12.5
15
10.5
Rt Rt
8.5
Rz 10 Rz
6.5
4.5 Ra Ra
2.5 5
0.5
-1.5 52.5 210 420 840 1260 1680 0
52.5 210 420 840 1260 1680

Figure 15. Roughness values for PLA parts after the machining with the Ø12mm end mill

4. Conclusions
From the study we can determined the best parameters for milling 3D printed parts at a constant spindle speed
of 3500 (rev/min). Some important observations are: for ABS, slow cutting speeds are producing a better
roughness quality. For PLA, the situation reverses, a better surface quality is obtained when using higher cutting
speeds. This is due to lower melting temperatures of PLA which implies that the more the cutting tools stays in
contact with the part the more heat it will generate and will deteriorate the part’s surface.

5. Acknowledgement
This work is supported by the DiFiCIL project (contract no. 69/08.09.2016, ID P_37_771, web:
http://dificil.grants.ulbsibiu.ro), co-funded by ERDF through the Competitiveness Operational Programme
2014-2020

References
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Bath," 2016.
[2] I. 4287:1997, Geometrical Product Specifications (GPS) -- Surface texture: Profile method -- Terms,
definitions and surface texture parameters, 1997.
[3] N. V. R. S. G. D. Paulak M. Pandey, "Improvement of surface finish by staircase machining in fused
deposition modeling" Materials Processing Tehnology, 2002.
[4] Samuel PUȘCAȘU et. al, "Study Regarding the Geometrical Deviations For 3d Printed Functional
Parts," in 35th Danubia-Adria Symposium on Advances in Experimental Mechanics, Sinaia, 2018.
[5] Radu Emanuil PETRUSE et. al, "Key Factors Towards A High Quality Additive Manufacturing
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[6] "Modern plastics,". [Online]. Available: https://www.modernplastics.com/blog/machining-tips-how-
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973-739-273-2, 2006

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