Page 52 - eBook_Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Manufacturing V1

Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Manufacturing –
Volume 1

enclosure achieved higher and more stable ambient temperatures,
peaking at 69 °C and maintaining above 65 °C. The blockboard
enclosure, although peaked at 66 °C, showed a gradual decline.
The superior performance of PMMA is attributed to its lower
thermal conductivity and better infrared heat retention. While
blockboard is a viable and cost-effective option, PMMA
enclosures offer enhanced thermal control, making them ideal for
temperature-sensitive prints.

Keywords: 3D Printing Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA),
Blockboard, Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Ambient
Temperature.

INTRODUCTION

Maintaining consistent ambient temperature is critical in Fused
Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printing as it directly affects
print quality and dimensional accuracy (Winters & Shepler,
2018). Fluctuations in environmental temperature, typical in
open-frame printers, often result in print defects such as warping,
poor interlayer adhesion, and dimensional instability, especially
in temperature-sensitive materials like Acrylonitrile Butadiene
Styrene (ABS) (Ngo, Kashani, Imbalzano, Nguyen & Hui, 2018;
Dawoud, Taha & Ebeid, 2016). To mitigate these issues, printer
enclosures are commonly employed to maintain a stable thermal
environment, yet the effectiveness of enclosure materials remains
an area of ongoing research (Jaber, Saleh & Ibraheem, 2025).
Previous studies highlighted the importance of enclosure design
and material selection in optimising FDM print quality. For
instance, Colosimo (2020) demonstrated that enclosure
temperatures significantly influence the mechanical properties
and dimensional accuracy of printed parts, emphasising that
higher and more stable enclosure temperatures can considerably
reduce warping and enhance part quality. Despite these insights,
comparative research specifically addressing the performance of
different enclosure materials such as Polymethyl Methacrylate
(PMMA) and blockboard remains scarce.

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