TY - JOUR
T1 - A Framework for Adaptive Width Control of Dense Contour-Parallel Toolpaths in Fused Deposition Modeling
AU - Kuipers, Tim
AU - Doubrovski, Eugeni L.
AU - Wu, Jun
AU - Wang, Charlie C.L.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - 3D printing techniques such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) have enabled the fabrication of complex geometry quickly and cheaply. Objects are produced by filling (a portion of) the 2D polygons of consecutive layers with contour-parallel extrusion toolpaths. Uniform width toolpaths consisting of inward offsets from the outline polygons produce over- and underfill regions in the center of the shape, which are especially detrimental to the mechanical performance of thin parts. In order to fill shapes with arbitrary diameter densely the toolpaths require adaptive width. Existing approaches for generating toolpaths with adaptive width result in a large variation in widths, which for some hardware systems is difficult to realize accurately. In this paper we present a framework which supports multiple schemes to generate toolpaths with adaptive width, by employing a function to decide the number of beads and their widths. Furthermore, we propose a novel scheme which reduces extreme bead widths, while limiting the number of altered toolpaths. We statistically validate the effectiveness of our framework and this novel scheme on a data set of representative 3D models, and physically validate it by developing a technique, called back pressure compensation, for off-the-shelf FDM systems to effectively realize adaptive width.
AB - 3D printing techniques such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) have enabled the fabrication of complex geometry quickly and cheaply. Objects are produced by filling (a portion of) the 2D polygons of consecutive layers with contour-parallel extrusion toolpaths. Uniform width toolpaths consisting of inward offsets from the outline polygons produce over- and underfill regions in the center of the shape, which are especially detrimental to the mechanical performance of thin parts. In order to fill shapes with arbitrary diameter densely the toolpaths require adaptive width. Existing approaches for generating toolpaths with adaptive width result in a large variation in widths, which for some hardware systems is difficult to realize accurately. In this paper we present a framework which supports multiple schemes to generate toolpaths with adaptive width, by employing a function to decide the number of beads and their widths. Furthermore, we propose a novel scheme which reduces extreme bead widths, while limiting the number of altered toolpaths. We statistically validate the effectiveness of our framework and this novel scheme on a data set of representative 3D models, and physically validate it by developing a technique, called back pressure compensation, for off-the-shelf FDM systems to effectively realize adaptive width.
KW - Adaptive extrusion width
KW - Additive manufacturing
KW - Geometrical accuracy
KW - Medial axis transform
KW - Toolpath generation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087428133&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cad.2020.102907
DO - 10.1016/j.cad.2020.102907
M3 - Article
SN - 0010-4485
VL - 128
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - CAD Computer Aided Design
JF - CAD Computer Aided Design
M1 - 102907
ER -