Implicit Model Slicing for Complex Additive Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current slicing technologies for additive manufacturing, such as plane layering and curved surface slicing methods, face challenges with complex models, including high memory consumption, accuracy issues, and the need for additional supports, which increase printing time and cost, especially when dealing with lattice structures.
Innovation Solution
A free-form curved surface slicing method based on an implicit model that directly slices without requiring conventional mesh models or topological relationships, using distance fields to determine intersection points and interpolate coordinates, allowing for efficient processing of complex models with reduced memory usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If plane layering is used to slice three-dimensional models, then the slicing process is simple and efficient, but it can only handle models with simple shapes and small sizes, requiring additional supports that increase printing time and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curved surface layering instead of plane layering to match the curvature of complex models. The slicing surface is defined by a curved surface equation that can adapt to various model geometries, allowing the slicing plane to follow the natural contours of complex shapes without requiring additional support structures.
2Adaptability or versatility
If STL files with triangular mesh models are used for slicing, then the method is mature and flexible, but the number of triangle meshes increases dramatically for complex structures, consuming large amounts of memory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential geometric information needed for slicing from the model data. Instead of loading and processing complete triangular mesh models with all their topological relationships, the method uses a simplified implicit surface representation that captures the model's geometry without the memory-intensive mesh structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the representation parameters from discrete triangular mesh coordinates to a continuous implicit surface function. This parameter transformation allows the model to be represented by a compact mathematical function rather than millions of discrete triangle vertices, dramatically reducing memory requirements while maintaining slicing accuracy.
3Manufacturing precision
If curved surface slicing is implemented using existing methods, then slicing accuracy may improve, but the methods require establishing topological relationships of triangles or simulating point clouds with coarse meshes, which still consume significant memory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an implicit surface function as an intermediary between the original model data and the slicing process. This intermediary representation serves as a memory-efficient bridge that preserves geometric accuracy while avoiding the need to store and process large numbers of mesh triangles or coarse point cloud approximations.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are free-form curved surface slicing method and device based on implicit model, includes following: (1) Using mesh model of layered curved surface to intersect with implicit model of a part to be manufactured to obtain contour lines; (2) Comparing rules for intersecting contour lines and meshes within mesh, mesh coordinates are substituted into implicit model, obtaining a position of an intersection point of contour lines in corresponding mesh; (3) Using interpolation method to calculate intersection coordinates of contour lines and mesh boundary, specifying storing sequence of interpolation points, storing intersection points of discrete line segments in mesh; (4) Merging unordered point sets obtained to establish topological relationship between point sets and discrete line segments, each line segment corresponds to two endpoints, each endpoint corresponds to two line segments, based on above, all points traversed will be connected into complete and ordered profile, that is sliced profile.