Towards selective laser sintering of objects with customized mechanical properties based on ANFIS predictions

Recently, the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) has been used extensively in modeling of manufacturing processes to save both optimization time and manufacturing costs. ANFIS is a powerful iterative tool for optimizing non-linear and multivariable manufacturing operations. In the present study, ANFIS is used to predict the optimum manufacturing parameters in selective laser sintering (SLS) of cement-filled polyamide 12 (PA12) composite. For this purpose, a set of cement-filled PA12 test specimens is manufactured by SLS technique with 8 different values of laser power (4.5–8 Watt) and 8 different weight fractions of white cement (5 %–40 %). Mechanical characterization of cement-filled PA12 is carried out to evaluate the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), compressive strength, and flexural properties. The experimental data are then divided into two groups; one group for training the ANFIS model and the other group for checking the validity of the identified model. The built ANFIS model was validated experimentally and comparison with experimental results revealed mean relative errors of 2.92 %, 3.84 %, 4.75 %, and 3.31 % in the predictions of UTS, compressive strength, flexural modulus, and flexural yield strength, respectively.