Investigation of FEF process liquid phase migration using orthogonal design of experiments

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of parameters on the liquid phase migration (LPM) during the freeze-form extrusion fabrication (FEF) process. Design/methodology/approach To carry out this study, three factors were systematically investigated using orthogonal design of experiments. These three parameters are the extrusion velocity, the extrusion interval time and the extrusion head length. An orthogonal array with nine test units was selected for the experiments. Range analysis and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data obtained by the orthogonal experiments to identify the order of significant factors on LPM. Findings It was found that the LPM decreased with the increase of extrusion velocity and increased with the lengthening of extrusion interval time and the length of the extrusion nozzle. The order of significant factors for the LPM were found to be extrusion velocity > extrusion nozzle length > extrusion interval time. Practical implications Using an orthogonal design of experiments and a statistical analysis method, the liquid content of extrudate can be predicted and appropriate process parameter values can be selected. This leads to the minimization of LPM during the FEF process. Also, this analysis method could be used to study the LPM in other paste extrusion processes. Originality/value This paper suggests that the factors have significant impact on LPM during FEF process. The following analysis in this paper is useful for FEF users when prediction of LPM is needed. This methodology could be easily applied to different materials and initial conditions for optimization of other FEF-type processes. The research can also help to get better understanding of LPM during the FEF process.