Printability Assessment and Optimization of Process Parameters for 3D Printing of Rice Flour and Jaggery Paste
2022
Thangalakshmi, S. | Arora, V.K. | Prithviraj, V.
PURPOSE: A study is conducted to investigate the effect of 3D printing process parameters, i.e., nozzle diameter(ND), layer height(LH), path width (PW), and print speed (PS) on dependant parameters—print time, weight, printing rate, and height ratio of the 3D printed food construct. Optimized formulation for best printability of rice flour, jaggery, and water, i.e., rice flour = 85.95 g, jaggery = 33.04 g, water = 114.93 g, is used in the study. METHOD: Box-Behnken design is used where a total of 29 experiments are conducted by varying ND: 1.2 to 1.8 mm, LH: 25% to 75%, PW: 0.5–1 mm, PS: 10 to 20 mm/s and their effect on dependant parameters is determined along with mathematical modeling. Printability assessment is conducted by visual analysis and a print score is allotted. The range of parameters obtained for best print score samples is considered for optimization. RESULTS: Optimized parameters found are, i.e., nozzle diameter 1.5 mm, layer height 29%, pathwidth 0.753 and print speed 20 mm/s are used for validation. Layer height and pathwidth were found to be more significant parameters compared with the other two parameters. Dimensional accuracy is also determined between target and experimental prints in validation. CONCLUSION: This work has optimized the 3D food printer process parameters for printing using rice flour, jaggery, and water. The combination of rice flour and jaggery for printing using ZMorph Vx thick paste extruder has been reported for the first time by the authors. Modeling and printer parameter optimization for the above said printer has also been reported for the first time. The concept of using the range of parameters from visual assessment for mathematical optimization has been possibly reported for the first time.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]