Plateau-Rayleigh instabilities in pore networks of additively manufactured polymers: A modeling perspective

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing (AM) is a popular and widespread polymer AM method that provides rapid part production with relatively low cost prototyping. Polymeric structures made through FFF AM typically have internal pore structures which result from the manufacturing process. A Monte Carlo algorithm is implemented to simulate pore morphology evolution from build-path networks to spheroidal pores in AMed post-annealed structures. The model demonstrated that the evolution of these pore networks phenomenologically follows stages associated with the Plateau-Rayleigh instability and that thermal gradients result in migration of the spherical pores, as was observed experimentally.