Abstract: This article analyzed the main factors which influenced the surface error of thin parts molded by 3D printing on the basis of the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method, and then the relevant experiments were designed. The effects of layer thickness and extrusion speed on the surface precision of the thin part were investigated, and the influence of printing speed on the surface roughness was evaluated. The results indicated that the parameters for the minimum errors in precision of parts could be determined as a layer thickness of 0.2 mm, an extrusion speed of 30 mm/s and a printing speed of 40 mm/s. As a result, the general principles were achieved for the optimization of processing parameters.

Key words: three dimensional printing, fused deposition modeling, thin plastic part, quality error, surface accuracy