Heat-aware toolpath generation for 3D printing of physical parts

Abstract

A computing system (100) can include an access engine (108) and a heat-aware toolpath engine (110). The access engine (108) can be configured to access (702) a slice (230) of a three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) object (210), where the 3D CAD object (210) represents a physical part, and where the slice (230) represents a physical layer for 3D printing of the physical part. The heat-aware toolpath engine (110) can be configured to generate a layer toolpath (260) to control 3D printing of the physical layer, including by segmenting the slice (230) into regions (251) and determining a region order for the layer toolpath (260) to traverse based on heat-aware criteria for the 3D printing of the physical layer. The heat-aware toolpath engine (110) can also be configured to provide the layer toolpath (260) to support 3D printing of the physical part.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Computer systems can be used to create, use, and manage data about products and other items. For example, Computer-Aided Technology (CAx) systems can be used to assist in the design, analysis, simulation, or manufacturing of products. Examples of CAx systems include Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) systems, visualization and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems, Product Data Management (PDM) systems, and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems. These CAx systems can include components (e.g., CAx applications) that facilitate the design and simulation testing of product structures and manufacturing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Certain examples are described in the following detailed description and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0003] Figure 1 An example of a computing system that supports generation of thermally aware tool paths for three-dimensional (3D) printing of physical parts is shown.

[0004] Figure 2 Example generation of heat-aware toolpaths for 3D printing of physical layers of a 3D part is shown.

[0005] Figure 3 An example application of a maximum distance thermal awareness criterion for generating a thermally aware toolpath for slicing a 3D CAD object is shown.

[0006] Figure 4 An example application of a threshold distance heat-aware criterion for generating a heat-aware toolpath for slicing a 3D CAD object is shown.

[0007] Figure 5 An example application of inverting thermal awareness criteria for generating thermally aware toolpaths for slicing 3D CAD objects is shown.

[0008] Figure 6 An example application of different thermal awareness criteria for different parts of a 3D CAD object is shown.

[0009] Figure 7 An example of logic that a system may implement to support the generation of heat-aware tool paths for 3D printing of physical parts is shown.

[0010] Figure 8 An example of a computing system that supports generation of heat-aware tool paths for 3D printing of physical parts is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Additive manufacturing (sometimes referred to as three-dimensional or 3D printing) can be performed via a 3D printer that can construct an object layer by layer. Example forms of additive manufacturing include multi-axis 3D printing, in which the 3D printer can adjust (e.g., tilt) the axis along which 3D construction is performed by material deposition, and laser powder bed fusion processes, in which a laser can be used as a power source to sinter / melt powdered material (e.g., metal powder) laid down on a powder bed or build platform. 3D printing can involve the continuous formation of material in an incremental manner through the use of a 3D printing tool (e.g., via a material deposition head or energy beam for incrementally building a 3D part in an ordered manner). As used herein, a tool path can refer to any approach, route, or path used by a 3D printer to construct any portion of a 3D part by additive manufacturing, whether as a path for continuously depositing material for material deposition 3D printing techniques, as a path for directing a laser (or other energy emission) for energy application by LPBF-type 3D printing techniques, and the like.

[0012] One challenge facing modern 3D printing systems is dealing with the heat generated by the 3D printing process. For example, multi-axis 3D printing techniques may require that the 3D printing material be heated sufficiently to form a ductile form (e.g., a metal bead), and this heat can be amplified when using metal or other substrates that can accumulate, retain, and emit heat. Heat can also be used by applying energy through LBPF lasers to sinter metal powders and injected into 3D printing systems as part of the 3D printing process. Excessive heat can adversely affect 3D part construction, for example, by causing part warping in thermal hotspots, inaccurate part construction, and possible part failure. Many current toolpath generation algorithms for 3D printing are optimized for 3D printing speed without considering heat generation, and therefore may face increased part deformation, reduced print yield, or decreased printing efficiency. The simple solution of pausing the 3D printing process during part construction may attempt to address heat-related part deformation, but at the cost of increased 3D part construction time and reduced efficiency.

[0013] The disclosure herein may provide systems, methods, devices, and logic for generating heat-aware tool paths for 3D printing of physical parts. As described in more detail herein, various heat-aware tool path features may support the design or reordering of 3D printing tool paths to reduce the effects of heat-based deformation in 3D parts. Any tool path generated by applying a heat-aware standard (or multiple heat-aware standards) may be referred to herein as a heat-aware tool path. Various heat-aware standards are described herein, any of which may support the generation of tool paths (e.g., layer by layer) to control the 3D printing of 3D parts in a heat-aware manner.

[0014] In some cases, a given layer of a 3D part can be segmented into smaller portions or regions, and a heat-aware layer tool path for the given layer can be generated by applying any number of heat-aware criteria to determine a 3D printing order for the segmented regions that is discontinuous or jumps to different layer portions to reduce or avoid heat buildup. Such heat-aware generation of tool paths for a 3D printing process can provide improved 3D printing effectiveness by reducing heat-based deformation (e.g., compared to a continuous, non-heat-aware tool path), while also enhancing 3D printing efficiency by reducing 3D printing downtime when the 3D printer is not actively constructing a 3D part (e.g., compared to a simple 3D print pause solution).

[0015] These and other thermally aware tool path features and technical benefits are described in greater detail herein.

[0016] Figure 1 An example of a computing system 100 that supports the generation of thermally aware tool paths for 3D printing of physical parts is shown. The computing system 100 can take the form of a single or multiple computing devices (e.g., an application server, a computing node, a desktop or laptop computer, a smartphone or other mobile device, a tablet device, an embedded controller, etc.). In some embodiments, the computing system 100 implements a CAx tool, application, or program to assist a user in designing, analyzing, simulating, or 3D manufacturing products, including thermally aware tool path generation.

[0017] As an example implementation supporting any combination of the heat-aware toolpath features described herein, Figure 1The illustrated computing system 100 includes an access engine 108 and a thermally aware toolpath engine 110. The computing system 100 can implement the engines 108 and 110 (including their components) in various ways, such as hardware and programming. The programming for the engines 108 and 110 can take the form of processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, and the hardware for the engines 108 and 110 can include a processor that executes these instructions. The processor can take the form of a single processor or a multi-processor system, and in some examples, the computing system 100 implements multiple engines using the same computing system features or hardware components (e.g., a common processor or a common storage medium).

[0018] In operation, the access engine 108 can access slices of 3D CAD objects. As used herein, a CAD object (including a 3D CAD object) can include any type of CAx object data related to part design, simulation, analysis, or manufacturing. A CAD object can therefore include a 3D object design, model, model slice, tool path, etc. The 3D CAD object accessed by the access engine 108 can represent a physical part, and the slice can represent a physical layer for 3D printing of the physical part.

[0019] In operation, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 may generate a layer toolpath to control 3D printing of a physical layer, including by segmenting a slice into regions and determining an order for the layer toolpath to traverse the regions for 3D printing of the physical layer based on thermally-aware criteria. In operation, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 may also provide a layer toolpath to support 3D printing of a physical part.

[0020] These and other heat-aware toolpath features are described in more detail below.

[0021] Figure 2 Example generation of heat-aware toolpaths for 3D printing of physical layers of a 3D part is shown. Figure 2 The examples in are illustrated via a computing system implementing the access engine 108 and the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110. However, various other implementations are contemplated herein.

[0022] The access engine 108 can access any CAx data relevant to the generation of the heat-aware toolpath. In some embodiments, the generation of the heat-aware toolpath is performed on a per-layer basis. In such an example, the access engine 108 can access any number of slices of the 3D CAD object to support the heat-aware toolpath generation. Figure 2In the example shown, the access engine 108 accesses slices from the 3D CAD object 210, and the slices may be generated by a slice plane 220 that intersects the CAD object 210 along any build axis supported for 3D printing of the physical part represented by the 3D CAD object 210. In some embodiments, the access engine 108 itself may perform an intersection operation on the 3D CAD object 210 to obtain the accessed slices. Figure 2 In FIG. 2 , the access engine 108 accesses a slice 230 of the 3D CAD object 210 , and the slice 230 may represent a specific physical layer of the physical part represented by the 3D CAD object 210 .

[0023] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate a heat-aware toolpath to control the 3D printing of a physical layer represented by a slice of an accessed 3D CAD object, including by applying heat-aware criteria 240. The heat-aware criteria 240 can include any conditions, logic, algorithms, parameters, or other features by which the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 generates a toolpath for 3D printing of a physical part. The heat-aware criteria 240 can be configured by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 to reduce heat buildup during 3D printing of the physical layer, such as by splitting the layer toolpath route so that the physical layer is constructed in a discontinuous manner, thereby reducing heat accumulation that might otherwise occur in a continuous toolpath optimized for the shortest 3D printing route. Various examples of various heat-aware criteria 240 that the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply are described herein.

[0024] To generate a heat-aware toolpath, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may segment any portion of the 3D CAD object 210 into a plurality of regions. Based on the segmented regions, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may determine an order in which the regions are to be 3D printed, and the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may generate a toolpath according to the order to control the 3D printing of the CAD object portions. This order may be referred to herein as a region order. As a continuing example used herein, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may segment a slice of the accessed 3D CAD object into regions, but any other CAD object portion may be used for heat-aware toolpath generation (e.g., toolpath generation for multiple slices, selected portions of a given slice, a specific user-selected volume of a 3D CAD object, or any other given region of a 3D CAD object).

[0025] exist Figure 2 In the example shown, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 segments the slice 230 into segmented slices 250 . Figure 2The illustrated segmented slice 250 is segmented in a 5-region by 8-region manner to include a total of forty (40) regions. The forty (40) regions of the segmented slice 250 are shown in Figure 2 as regions 251 (note that for visual clarity, only some of the regions 251 are explicitly indicated by arrows in Figure 2 ).

[0026] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can segment a slice (or any other CAD object portion) according to any number of segmentation parameters. The segmentation parameters by which the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can divide a CAD object slice can be configurable (e.g., via user settings) or preprogrammed into the heat-aware toolpath engine 110. In some implementations, the segmentation parameters are part of the heat-aware criteria 240 that the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply to a given slice or CAD object portion. Examples of segmentation parameters include a predetermined or threshold region area, perimeter, length, and / or width, region shape, or any other logic or parameter by which the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 divides a 3D CAD object slice. In some implementations, the segmentation parameters can be flexible in that the segmented regions of a given slice can have region areas, lengths, widths, shapes, etc. that vary based on slice characteristics of the given slice (e.g., distance from a build plate or base that can be measured as a z-value along a build axis, total area of the given slice, particular object features in the given slice, etc.).

[0027] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate a heat-aware toolpath from the segmented portions of a 3D CAD object. In doing so, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can determine a region order for the segmented slice, and that region order can in effect set a route for 3D printing that forms the heat-aware toolpath. The heat-aware criteria applied by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can control the region order determination, and the heat-aware criteria can dictate how the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 selects a starting region for the heat-aware toolpath and subsequent regions in the region order until each of the segmented regions is considered in the generated region order. To illustrate by way of example, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply the heat-aware criteria 240 to select an order that includes each of the forty (40) regions 251 of the segmented slice 250, and this order can be used to generate a layer toolpath 260 for 3D printing that forms a physical layer represented by the slice 230. Figure 2

[0028] ​Object slicing, slice segmentation, and region order determination need not be limited to 3D CAD model data. In some embodiments, the access engine 108 may access slices in the form of previously generated toolpaths or initial toolpaths, which may include any conventionally generated toolpath that does not account for heat in its path (referred to herein as a non-heat-aware toolpath). Examples of conventionally generated toolpaths include toolpaths optimized for 3D printing speed, such as continuous line scan material deposition paths or laser hatching generated by conventional 3D printing systems.

[0029] In the example of toolpath-based slicing, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can slice (in the form of an initial toolpath) by segmenting the non-heat-aware toolpath into different toolpath regions, and each toolpath region can represent a specific (e.g., continuous) portion of the non-heat-aware toolpath. In such an embodiment, the segmented regions can be segments of a previously generated toolpath, and the application of heat-aware criteria 240 by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate a reordered (and discontinuous) toolpath that can reduce heat concentration during 3D printing while maintaining printing efficiency compared to a non-heat-aware toolpath that inserts pauses to allow the 3D print chamber to cool.

[0030] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can provide generated layer toolpaths to support 3D printing of physical parts represented by 3D CAD objects. For example, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can transmit the layer toolpath 260 as control data to the 3D printer, causing a deposition tool, a laser or other energy source, or other 3D printing instrument to traverse the layer toolpath 260 to physically manufacture the physical layer represented by the slice 230. In some embodiments, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 is implemented locally as part of the 3D printer itself, so that the heat-aware toolpath generation can occur on the same physical machine as the 3D printing of the physical part. In other embodiments, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can be implemented remotely from the 3D printer (e.g., via a remote CAD system or in a cloud computing environment), and the layer toolpath 260 can be transmitted to the 3D printer across a communication network.

[0031] Thus, heat-aware tool paths can be generated and the physical configuration of the 3D part can take into account the heat-aware criteria of various applications used to generate heat-aware tool paths. Figures 3 to 5 Some examples of thermal awareness criteria that the thermal-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply are presented.

[0032] Figure 3An example application of the maximum distance thermal awareness criterion for generating thermally aware toolpaths for slicing 3D CAD objects is shown. Figure 3 In the example of , the application of the maximum distance heat-aware criterion is described with reference to the heat-aware tool path engine 110, but other embodiments are possible and contemplated herein. The maximum distance heat-aware criterion applied by the heat-aware tool path engine 110 may indicate the selection of a subsequent region that is at a maximum distance from the current region in the region order. In this regard, the region order determined by the heat-aware tool path engine 110 may ensure that corresponding regions of the physical layer are 3D printed at a maximum distance from the previous build region, which may reduce (e.g., minimize) thermal impact from the previous build region.

[0033] In order to pass Figure 3 To illustrate, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply a maximum distance thermally-aware criterion to generate a thermally-aware toolpath for the segmented slice 310 . Figure 3 The segmented slice 310 is shown to have forty (40) regions, and the regions of the segmented slice 310 are labeled Z1-Z 40 The determined order of heat-sensitive regions for the segmented slice 310 may be for regions Z1-Z 40 Some or all of them can be sorted for 3D printing.

[0034] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may determine a starting region for a sequence of regions generated for the segmented slice 310. The starting region may refer to an initial region of the segmented 3D object portion where 3D printing begins for a given heat-aware toolpath. Figure 3 In the example shown, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 selects region Z1 of the segmented slice 310 as the starting region of the region sequence.

[0035] The determination of the starting region for a given segmented slice may be controlled by the application of a maximum distance thermally aware criterion (or any other thermally aware criterion). The thermally aware criterion applied by the thermally aware toolpath engine 110 may, for example, specify that the starting region be randomly selected from the regions of the segmented slice. As another example, the thermally aware criterion may specify that the starting region be a predetermined region (e.g., Z1 or Z2 of the segmented slice 310). 40 ) or as a region located at a particular slice location, whether relative (e.g., having the highest or lowest x-value coordinate in the segmented slice) or absolute (e.g., at coordinate (0, 0) of the segmented slice using a particular coordinate system scaled to the segmented slice).

[0036] As another example, a thermally sensitive criterion may specify the determination of a starting region for a given slice based on an ending region of a different slice (e.g., a different slice to be manufactured before (e.g., immediately before) the given slice). Such a thermally sensitive criterion may specify the determination of a starting region in a region sequence that is at least a threshold distance from an ending region of the region sequence determined for a different slice, where the different slice represents another physical layer to be manufactured before the physical layer represented by the given slice in 3D printing of the physical part. In such a starting region determination, the thermally sensitive criterion may reduce thermal impacts caused by the manufacturing of the different physical layers.

[0037] The threshold distance set by the thermally aware criteria for determining the starting region can be a maximum distance or at least a predetermined distance, whether measured as a region distance (e.g., at least ) or a physical distance (e.g., at least 15 centimeters away). The distance between regions of different slices at different heights in the physical part can be calculated by the thermally aware toolpath engine 110 by projecting the ending regions of the different slices along the build axis onto the 2D plane where the given slice lies and then applying the threshold distance accordingly.

[0038] After determining the starting region of the region sequence for the heat-aware tool path, the heat-aware tool path engine 110 can continuously determine subsequent regions in the region sequence until a threshold number of regions (e.g., all regions) in the segmented slice 310 are considered in the region sequence. The heat-aware tool path engine 110 can apply any number of heat-aware criteria to determine subsequent regions in the region sequence, such as a maximum distance heat-aware criterion. Figure 3 To illustrate, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply the maximum distance heat-aware toolpath criterion to select a subsequent region in the region order that (immediately) follows the starting region Z1, which can be referred to as the current region in this iteration of the region order determination process. In doing so, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can select an unscheduled region in the segmented slice 310 that has the largest distance from the current region, which is the starting region Z1 in this iteration. An unscheduled region can refer to any region in the segmented slice 310 that has not yet been included in the region order.

[0039] Taking Z1 as the current zone, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may be in the unscheduled zone Z2-Z 40 The subsequent zone with the largest distance from the current zone Z1 is selected, so the zone Z is selected by applying the maximum distance heat perception criterion 40In a consistent manner, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may iteratively apply the maximum distance heat-aware criterion to determine the subsequent region after the current region in the region sequence until regions Z1-Z of the segmented slice 310 have been scheduled in the region sequence. 40 Each of them.

[0040] In some embodiments, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply a maximum distance function that considers only the current zone (e.g., the maximum distance to zone Z1, then the maximum distance to zone Z1). 40 In some embodiments, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply a maximum distance function that takes into account multiple previous regions in the region sequence. In such embodiments, the maximum distance heat-aware criterion applied by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may determine a subsequent region in the region sequence by maximizing the combined distance between (i) the subsequent region and the current region and (ii) the subsequent region and a given region scheduled before the current region in the region sequence.

[0041] To provide an illustrative example, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may perform multiple iterations of subsequent region determination to determine the region order [Z1, Z2] thus far. 40 , Z5, Z 33 ]. In this illustrative example, area Z 33 may be referred to as the current region for the next iteration of subsequent region determination. In the next iteration, the maximum distance thermal perception criterion may dictate the determination of a subsequent region such that (i) the subsequent region is in agreement with Z 33 The maximum distance between the current region and (ii) the sum of the distance between the subsequent region and Z5 (a given region scheduled before the current region in the region order, also referred to as the previously scheduled region) is maximized. In this illustrative example, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 determines the maximum distance considering the current region and one other previously scheduled region. Alternatively, the maximum distance heat-aware criterion may consider two, three, or more other previously scheduled regions in determining the subsequent region for a given iteration.

[0042] As yet another example, the maximum distance heat-aware criterion applied by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply a weighted maximum distance function to the distance between the current region and one or more previously scheduled regions. By doing so, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may, for example, weight the thermal impact caused by the current region more heavily when selecting a subsequent region, but still consider the previously scheduled regions to ensure an appropriate path to reduce or minimize heat-based deformation during 3D printing. For example, the maximum distance heat-aware criterion may be expressed by a weighted function to weight the subsequent region Z SDetermine to the current area Z C and previously scheduled region Z C-1 , Z C-2 The weighted function of the distance is expressed as follows:

[0043] MAX(0.8*dist(Z S , Z C )+0.15*dist(Z S , Z C -1)+0.05*dist(Z S , Z C -2))

[0044] In this example, the values ​​0.8, 0.15, and 0.05 are used as the current region Z, respectively. C , previously scheduled area Z C-1 and previously scheduled region Z C-2 The heat-aware tool path engine 110 may determine the subsequent region Z in the remaining region of the segmented slice 310. S , the subsequent region makes the current region Z C With the previous dispatch area Z C-1 and Z C-2 The value of the weighted distance is maximized.

[0045] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may continue to apply the maximum distance heat-aware criteria until zones Z1-Z are scheduled in the zone sequence. 40 The last region in the region sequence may be referred to as the end region, and when determining the end region, the heat-aware tool path engine 110 may determine a region sequence for the segmented slice 310 that schedules all regions Z1-Z 40 , for 3D printing of the physical layer represented by the segmented slice 310. When no further unscheduled regions remain in the segmented CAD object portion, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 may determine an end region.

[0046] The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can use the determined region order to generate a layer toolpath 320 for the segmented slice 310. For regions of the segmented slice 310 that can take the form of toolpath segments (e.g., segmented from a non-heat-aware toolpath), the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate the layer toolpath 320 by reordering the toolpath segments in the determined region order. For regions that can take the form of 2D or 3D CAD model sections, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate toolpaths for each region (e.g., a starting point and traversal path within the region). These region-specific deposition routes or hatch tracking routes for energy application can be determined before the region order is determined, and a default traversal route can be assigned to each region (e.g., in a continuous scan line route). Generating the layer toolpath 320 by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can then include ordering the region-specific toolpaths in the order specified by the determined region order.

[0047] In any of the above-described manners, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate heat-aware layer toolpaths for slices of a 3D CAD object using any number of maximum distance heat-aware criteria. As another example, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply a threshold distance heat-aware criterion to generate heat-aware toolpaths, as described below in conjunction with Figure 4 Descriptive.

[0048] Figure 4 An example application of a threshold distance heat-aware criterion for generating a heat-aware toolpath for slicing a 3D CAD object is shown. Figure 4 The segmented slice 410 has forty (40) regions, and the regions of the segmented slice 410 are Figure 4 Marked as Z1-Z 40 The thermally aware toolpath engine 110 may determine a starting region for the sequence of regions of the segmented slice 410, doing so in any manner described herein. In this regard, the threshold distance thermally aware criteria applied by the thermally aware toolpath engine 110 may specify criteria, logic, or parameters used to determine the starting region of the segmented slice 410. Figure 4 In the example shown, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 selects region Z1 as the starting region for the region sequence of the segmented slice 410 .

[0049] The thermally aware toolpath engine 110 may apply a threshold distance thermally aware criterion to iteratively determine subsequent regions in the region sequence until the regions in the segmented slice 410 (or selected portions thereof) are scheduled in the region sequence. The threshold distance thermally aware criterion may specify the selection of a subsequent region in the region sequence that is a predetermined distance from the current region. The predetermined distance may be specified based on the region or based on a physical measurement. As an illustrative example, the threshold distance thermally aware criterion may specify the selection of a subsequent region that is a distance of three (3) regions from the current region or a distance of fifteen (15) centimeters from the current region. In Figure 4 In the example, when the zone Z4 satisfies the threshold distance heat-aware criterion of being three (3) zones away from the current zone Z1, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 determines that the zone Z4 is a subsequent zone of the current zone Z1.

[0050] In some embodiments, in the event that multiple unscheduled zones meet the threshold distance thermal awareness criteria, the threshold distance thermal awareness criteria may further specify a selection criterion. For a threshold distance thermal awareness criterion specifying a threshold distance for three (3) zones, at least zones Z4 and Z 25 The selection criteria may specify which of the multiple regions that meet the threshold distance requirement is determined as the subsequent region (e.g., by random selection), the region with the highest or lowest x-value coordinate, the region with the highest or lowest distance from the previously scheduled region (e.g., Z C-1 ) areas that are a maximum distance apart, or indicated by any other configurable selection parameter that may be user-selected or pre-programmed.

[0051] In this way, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may iteratively apply the threshold distance heat-aware criteria to determine subsequent regions after the current region in the region order until regions Z1-Z1 of the segmented slice 410 have been scheduled in the region order. 40 The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may then use the determined region order to generate a layer toolpath 420 for the segmented slice 410 , doing so in any manner described herein.

[0052] Next, combine Figure 5 Yet another example of a thermal awareness criterion that the thermal-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply is described.

[0053] Figure 5 An example application of inverting heat-aware criteria for generating heat-aware toolpaths for slices of 3D CAD objects is shown. The inverted heat-aware criteria can be applied by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 specifically to slices in the form of previously generated toolpaths (e.g., as non-heat-aware toolpaths generated using conventional pathing techniques). Figure 5 An example of this is shown in FIG, where a slice 510 (e.g., accessed by the access engine 108) takes the form of a previously generated toolpath. Figure 5 denoted as initial tool path 520 .

[0054] The initial tool path 520 may be generated to optimize 3D printing efficiency and, therefore, may take the form of a continuous tool path route that begins at a tool path start point 521 in the slice 510 and ends at a tool path end point 522. While the initial tool path 520 may provide a degree of efficiency in fabricating the physical layer represented by the slice 510, such a continuous path may result in part deformation due to heat-related issues generated by heat injection into the 3D part in a continuous manner.

[0055] To support the application of the reverse heat-aware standard, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can segment the slice 510 by segmenting the initial toolpath 520 into different parts. Each toolpath segment of the initial toolpath 520 can be a region in the segmented slice. Figure 5 As seen in FIG. 1 , the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may segment the slice 510 into segmented slices 530 , which may include Figure 5 5. The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can determine the order of regions for the segmented slice 530 based on any heat-aware criteria described herein, as any heat-aware criteria can be applied to regions in the form of toolpath segments.

[0056] When applying the inverted thermal awareness criteria, the thermally aware toolpath engine 110 may determine an order of regions that is the same as the order of regions of the initial toolpath 520. Although the initial toolpath 520 itself may not have a specific order of regions (because the initial toolpath 520 is not segmented into regions), the regions of the segmented slices 530 may be ordered by the thermally aware toolpath engine 110 to be the same order of regions as that used to implement the initial toolpath 520. Figure 5 In the example shown, the inverted heat-aware criteria applied by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may specify setting the zone order [Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5], which would be an order that reflects the ordering of the initial toolpath 520. However, when applying the inverted heat-aware criteria, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may invert the start and end points of some or all of the zone-specific toolpaths.

[0057] This reversal is illustrated in the example of 5, where the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may reverse the start and end points of each region-specific toolpath for regions Z1-Z5. Thus, the heat-aware toolpath generated by applying the reversed heat-aware criteria may be different from the initial toolpath 520. In some embodiments, the reversed heat-aware criteria applied by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may specify the selection of subsequent regions that are adjacent to the current region in the region order, and the generation of the layer toolpath for the segmented slice may include reversing the start and end points of the region-specific toolpaths for the subsequent regions. In this way, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may generate the layer toolpath 540 for the slice 510 by applying the reversed heat-aware criteria.

[0058] By reversing the start and end points of region-specific toolpaths, the application of inverted thermal criteria can ensure that the 3D printing route of the physical layer is discontinuous, thereby allowing portions of the physical layer to cool and reduce thermal impacts while still continuing to manufacture other portions of the physical layer. Therefore, the thermally aware toolpath generated by applying thermally aware criteria can improve 3D part quality, maintain 3D printing efficiency, or both.

[0059] While some examples of heat-aware standard features are described above, this document contemplates any parameter or standard that takes into account thermal deformation in 3D printing of a physical part to be set as part of the heat-aware standard. Furthermore, while many of the examples presented above are provided in the context of a single layer, any of the various heat-aware toolpath features described herein may be applied in combination, such as for different slices of a 3D CAD assembly. Figure 6 Some examples of this are described.

[0060] Figure 6 An example application of different thermal awareness standards for different parts of a 3D CAD object is shown. Figure 6 In the embodiment of the present invention, multiple slices from the 3D CAD object 610 can be accessed (e.g., by accessing the engine 108), and different heat-awareness criteria can be applied to different slices. In particular, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can be Figure 6 Slice 621 and slice 622 of the illustrated 3D CAD object 610 generate heat-aware layer toolpaths differently.

[0061] In some embodiments, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply different segmentation parameters to slice 621 and slice 622 (and the segmentation parameters may be embedded as part of the heat-aware criteria). The segmentation parameters may vary based on the location of slice 621 and slice 622, respectively, within the 3D CAD object 610. For example, the physical layer represented by slice 621 may be scheduled to be 3D printed before the physical layer represented by slice 622. This may be the case where slice 622 is at a higher position along the build axis than slice 621, and therefore slice 622 may be 3D printed (directly or indirectly) on top of slice 621. This may also mean that the physical layer represented by slice 621 may be closer to the build plate than the physical layer represented by slice 622, and therefore slice 621 may be more susceptible to heat that has accumulated or radiated from the build plate.

[0062] To account for the increased thermal sensitivity or heat exposure of slice 621 (compared to slice 622), the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may segment slice 621 at a finer granularity (e.g., area) than slice 622. Figure 6 An example of this difference in segmentation granularity is illustrated in FIG. 5 by segmented slice 632 segmented by the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 from slice 622 at a coarser granularity than segmented slice 631 segmented from slice 621 .

[0063] By segmenting slices having (relatively) smaller region sizes and selecting a discontinuous region sequence based on the applied thermal awareness criteria, the thermally aware tool path engine 110 can ensure that 3D printing of a given layer portion will be completed more quickly (compared to a region sequence having a larger region size). In this regard, the thermally aware tool path generated by the thermally aware tool path engine 110 for the segmented slice 631 can route 3D printing to different layer portions of the represented physical layer in a shorter time than the thermally aware tool path generated for the segmented slice 632 having a larger region size. In this way, the thermally aware tool path engine 110 can account for increased thermal exposure of a physical layer within a threshold distance from a build plate or other heat-generating portion of the 3D printing system.

[0064] Additionally or alternatively, by segmenting slice 622 at a coarser granularity than slice 621, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can take advantage of the reduced thermal sensitivity or thermal exposure of physical layers that are at a greater distance (e.g., greater than a predetermined distance or threshold distance) from the build plate. By segmenting slice 622 at a larger region size (compared to segmented slice 631 segmented from slice 621), the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can improve 3D printing efficiency by reducing the number of regions in a determined region sequence, increasing the continuity of a 3D printing toolpath, or reducing the overall distance of a generated layer toolpath (and thereby reducing 3D printing time). Thus, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can flexibly account for slice characteristics in the segmentation of different slices of a 3D CAD object, including by segmenting a slice into regions whose area is larger than the area of ​​a region of a different slice, the different slice representing another physical layer to be manufactured before the physical layer in the 3D printing of the physical part.

[0065] As another feature of different slices, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can vary the thermally-aware criteria applied to various slices of the 3D CAD object. For example, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can cycle through a set of thermally-aware criteria in a round-robin manner to apply to slices of the 3D CAD object. In this regard, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply a maximum distance thermally-aware criterion to determine the order of regions for segmented slice 631, apply a threshold distance thermally-aware criterion to segmented slice 632, and continue to cycle through various thermally-aware criteria to apply to other slices of the 3D CAD object 610. Thus, the thermally-aware toolpath engine 110 can apply different thermally-aware criteria to generate layer toolpaths for different slices of the 3D CAD object.

[0066] Additionally or alternatively, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply multiple different heat-aware criteria to a single slice, for example, by further dividing the area of ​​the segmented slice into sub-partitions and applying different heat-aware criteria to each sub-partition. As another feature, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply heat-aware criteria to only selected portions of a 3D CAD object slice. For example, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may identify a portion of a slice to apply heat-aware criteria based on finite element analysis or other manufacturing simulations, which may indicate hot spots of a 3D part that will deform during 3D printing. The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may specifically segment these identified sub-portions of the slice (e.g., hot spots) and apply heat-aware criteria to generate a heat-aware toolpath specific to the identified portions of the slice. For the remaining portions of the slice (e.g., non-hot spots), the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may apply other toolpath generation techniques, for example, as a continuous line scan toolpath, or otherwise optimize 3D printing efficiency without the heat-aware toolpath feature described herein.

[0067] Although a number of heat-aware toolpath features have been described herein through the illustrative examples presented in the various figures, the access engine 108 and the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 may implement any combination of the heat-aware toolpath features described herein.

[0068] Figure 7 An example of logic 700 that a system may implement to support generation of heat-aware tool paths for 3D printing of physical parts is shown. For example, the computing system 100 may implement the logic 700 as hardware, executable instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, or a combination of both. The computing system 100 may implement the logic 700 via the access engine 108 and the heat-aware tool path engine 110, through which the computing system 100 may execute or implement the logic 700 as a method of supporting generation of heat-aware tool paths for 3D printing of physical parts. The following description of the logic 700 is provided using the access engine 108 and the heat-aware tool path engine 110 as an example. However, various other implementation options of the system are possible.

[0069] In implementing the logic 700, the access engine 108 can access a 3D CAD object (702). The 3D CAD object can represent a physical part, and the slices can represent physical layers for 3D printing of the physical part. In implementing the logic 700, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can generate layer toolpaths to control 3D printing of the physical layers represented by the slices (704), including by segmenting the slices into regions (706) and determining a region order for layer toolpath traversal based on heat-aware criteria for the 3D printing of the physical layers (708). The heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can do so in any of the ways described herein. In implementing the logic 700, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can also provide the layer toolpaths to support 3D printing of the physical part (710).

[0070] Figure 7 The illustrated logic 700 provides an illustrative example of a computing system 100 that can support generation of heat-aware toolpaths for 3D printing of a physical part. Additional or alternative steps in the logic 700 are contemplated herein, including in accordance with any of the various features described herein for the access engine 108, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110, or any combination thereof.

[0071] Figure 8 An example of a computing system 800 that supports generation of heat- aware toolpaths for 3D printing of a physical part is shown. The computing system 800 can include a processor 810, which can take the form of a single or multiple processors. The one or more processors 810 can include a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or any hardware device suitable for executing instructions stored on a machine-readable medium. The system 800 can include a machine-readable medium 820. The machine-readable medium 820 can take the form of any non-transitory electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device suitable for storing executable instructions, such as Figure 8 The illustrated access instructions 822 and heat-aware toolpath instructions 824. Thus, the machine-readable medium 820 can be, for example, random access memory (RAM) (such as dynamic RAM (DRAM)), flash memory, spin-torque memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a storage drive, an optical disc, and the like.

[0072] The computing system 800 can execute instructions stored on the machine- readable medium 820 by the processor 810. Execution of the instructions (such as the access instructions 822 and / or the heat-aware toolpath instructions) can cause the computing system 800 to perform any of the features described herein, including in accordance with any of the features of the access engine 108, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110, or a combination of both.

[0073] For example, execution of the access instruction 822 by the processor 810 can cause the computing system 800 to access a slice of a 3D CAD object. The 3D CAD object can represent a physical part, and the slice can represent a physical layer for 3D printing of the physical part. Execution of the heat-aware toolpath instruction 824 by the processor 810 can cause the computing system 800 to generate a layer toolpath to control 3D printing of the physical layer, including by segmenting the slice into regions and determining a region order for layer toolpath traversal based on heat-aware criteria for the 3D printing of the physical layer. Execution of the heat-aware toolpath instruction 824 by the processor 810 can cause the computing system 800 to provide the layer toolpath to support 3D printing of the physical part.

[0074] Any additional or alternative heat-aware toolpath features as described herein can be implemented via the access instruction 822, the heat-aware toolpath instruction 824, or a combination of both.

[0075] The above-described systems, methods, devices, and logic including the access engine 108 and the heat-aware toolpath engine 110 can be implemented in many different ways with many different combinations of hardware, logic, circuitry, and executable instructions stored on a machine-readable medium. For example, the access engine 108, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110, or a combination thereof can include circuitry in a controller, microprocessor, or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or can be implemented with discrete logic or components or a combination of other types of analog or digital circuitry, which can be distributed across multiple integrated circuits or distributed among multiple integrated circuits. A product (e.g., a computer program product) can include a storage medium and machine-readable instructions stored on the medium, which when executed in a terminal, computer system, or other device, cause the device to perform operations according to any of the above descriptions, including according to any of the features of the access engine 108, the heat-aware toolpath engine 110, or a combination thereof.

[0076] The processing capabilities of the systems, devices, and engines described herein, including the access engine 108 and the heat-aware toolpath engine 110, can be distributed among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems or cloud / network elements. Parameters, databases, and other data structures can be stored and managed separately, can be combined into a single memory or database, can be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and can be implemented in many ways, including data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, or implicit storage mechanisms. Programs can be parts of a single program (e.g., subroutines), separate programs, distributed across several memories and processors, or implemented in many different ways, such as in libraries (e.g., shared libraries).

[0077] While various examples have been described above, it is possible that more implementations are possible.

Claims

1. A method for generating a heat-aware tool path for 3D printing of a physical part, comprising: By computing the system: accessing (702) a slice (230) of a three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) object (210), wherein the 3D CAD object (210) represents a physical part, and wherein the slice (230) represents a physical layer for 3D printing of the physical part; Generating (704) a layer toolpath (260) to control the 3D printing of the physical layer comprises: Segmenting (706) the slice (230) into regions (251); and determining (708) an order of regions to be traversed by the layer tool path (260) for performing the 3D printing of the physical layer based on a thermal awareness criterion (240) configured to reduce heat buildup during 3D printing of the physical layer; and providing (710) the layer tool path (260) to support the 3D printing of the physical part; wherein the thermal perception criteria (240) specifies determination of a starting region in the region sequence that is at least a threshold distance from an ending region of the region sequence determined for a different slice, wherein the different slice represents another physical layer to be manufactured before the physical layer in the 3D printing of the physical part.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The heat-awareness criteria (240) specifies the selection of the subsequent region in the region sequence that is at the greatest distance from the current region.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The heat-sensing criteria (240) specifies selection of a subsequent zone in the sequence of zones that is a predetermined distance from the current zone.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The thermal awareness criteria (240) specifies selection of a subsequent region adjacent to the current region in the region sequence, and wherein generating (704) the layer tool path further comprises reversing a start point and an end point of the layer tool path for performing the 3D printing of the subsequent region.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, applying different heat-aware criteria (240) to generate layer toolpaths for different slices of the 3D CAD object.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising segmenting the slice into regions having an area greater than an area of ​​a region of a different slice, the different slice representing another physical layer to be manufactured before the physical layer in the 3D printing of the physical part.

7. A system (100) for generating a heat-aware tool path for 3D printing of a physical part, comprising: an access engine (108) configured to access (702) slices (230) of a three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) object (210), wherein the 3D CAD object (210) represents a physical part, and wherein the slices (230) represent physical layers for 3D printing of the physical part; A heat-aware toolpath engine (110) configured to: Generating a layer toolpath (260) to control the 3D printing of the physical layer comprises: dividing the slice (230) into regions (251); and determining an order of regions traversed by the layer tool path (260) for performing the 3D printing of the physical layer based on a thermal awareness criterion configured to reduce heat buildup during 3D printing of the physical layer; and providing the layer toolpath (260) to support the 3D printing of the physical part; wherein the thermal perception criteria (240) specifies determination of a starting region in the region sequence that is at least a threshold distance from an ending region of the region sequence determined for a different slice, wherein the different slice represents another physical layer to be manufactured before the physical layer in the 3D printing of the physical part.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein: The heat-awareness criteria (240) specifies the selection of the subsequent region in the region sequence that is at the greatest distance from the current region.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein: The heat-sensing criteria (240) specifies selection of a subsequent zone in the sequence of zones that is a predetermined distance from the current zone.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein: The heat-aware criteria (240) specifies selection of a subsequent region adjacent to the current region in the region sequence, and wherein the heat-aware toolpath engine (110) is configured to generate the layer toolpath by also reversing the start and end points of the layer toolpath for 3D printing of the subsequent region.

11. The system according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: The thermally aware toolpath engine (110) is configured to apply different thermally aware criteria (240) to generate the layer toolpaths for different slices of the 3D CAD object.

12. The system according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: The heat-aware toolpath engine (110) is configured to segment the slice into regions having an area greater than an area of ​​a different slice representing another physical layer to be manufactured before the physical layer in the 3D printing of the physical part.

13. A non-transitory machine-readable medium (820) comprising instructions (822, 824) that, when executed by a processor (810), cause a computing system (800) to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

Images