Understanding the effects of formulation and process variables on the printlets quality manufactured by selective laser sintering 3D printing

Abstract The focus of the study was to understand the effects of formulation and process variables on the printlets quality manufactured by selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing. The Box-Behnken response surface methodology was used to evaluate effects of individual variables and combinations thereof. The formulation and process variables studied were printing chamber temperature (°C, X1), laser scanning speed (mm/sec, X2) and lactose monohydrate concentration (%, X3). The responses studied were weight of printlets (mg, Y1), hardness (N, Y2), disintegration time (sec, Y3) and dissolved drug fraction in 15 min (%, Y4). The values of Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4 varied from 170.2–257.0 mg, 5.5–32.0 N, 20–120 s and 64.4–97.5%, respectively. The studied factors showed statistically significant effects on the dependent variables (p