Tailored Printing Parameters for Optimized Tensile Performance of PETG-CF Lightweight Structures in Industrial Use

This study focuses on optimizing the printing parameters of carbon fiber-reinforced polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG-CF) structures to improve their mechanical behavior under tensile loading. Three critical design parameters were strategically selected: infill pattern structure (gyroid, honeycomb, and grid), infill density (25%, 50%, and 75%), and layer height (0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mm) to measure their influence on tensile performance. Test specimens were produced using fused deposition modeling (FDM). To identify the optimal parameter combination for maximizing mechanical properties, namely ultimate tensile strength ((Formula presented.)), failure strain ((Formula presented.)), tensile modulus ((Formula presented.)), and toughness modulus ((Formula presented.)), the robust Taguchi method was used within a design of experiments (DOE) framework. An L9 orthogonal array was used to systematically design the experimental trials. Subsequent analyses, including main effect plots, signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio evaluation, and analysis of variance (ANOVA), were conducted to quantify the contribution of each factor. The results demonstrate that infill density is the most influential parameter, accounting for 85.70%, 34.35%, 95.94%, and 82.67% of the variation in (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.), E, and (Formula presented.), respectively. Finally, confirmation experiments were performed to validate the predicted optimal settings, yielding error percentages of 0.784%, 0.69%, 8.93%, and 3.79% for (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.), E, and (Formula presented.), respectively, thereby confirming the model's reliability and the effectiveness of the optimization strategy.