3D Object Shell Fracturing During Slicing for Clean Multi-Material Seams
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current additive manufacturing techniques face challenges in efficiently fracturing a shell of a three-dimensional object into usable fragments for multi-material objects, particularly when dealing with shells without well-defined edge lines, leading to complex preprocessing requirements and potential asymmetrical results.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that selectively creates healed fragments of a shell during the slicing process, reducing preprocessing time and ensuring cleaner seams between different build materials, using a processor and memory to form layer data for additive manufacturing systems with multiple extruders or lasers, allowing for the separation and rejoining of fragments with offset gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a shell is broken apart into fragments along well-defined edge lines, then the shell can be separated into usable portions for multi-material objects, but the process becomes complicated requiring high-performance processors and creates non-symmetrical faces resulting in poor match when fragments are rejoined
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the fracturing operation during the slicing process itself rather than as a separate preprocessing step. The shell is fractured into fragments along well-defined edge lines as part of the layer data generation, and the fragments are immediately healed to ensure symmetry and match quality when rejoined, eliminating the need for post-fracturing adjustments
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary healing process that acts as a mediator between fracturing and slicing. The healing step reconciles the fragmented shell pieces by creating symmetrical connections, ensuring that when fragments are rejoined during object formation, their faces match properly without requiring complex preprocessing or high-performance processors
2Adaptability or versatility
If separate solid models are created for separate portions of an object to be formed from respective build materials, then multi-material objects can be produced, but the technique requires expertise of the CAD system and added resources to separately process each solid model
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the single shell into multiple fragments during the slicing process, where each fragment corresponds to a portion of the object to be formed from a different build material. This allows multi-material objects to be produced from a single source model without requiring separate solid models for each material portion
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves universality by creating a single fracturing and slicing process that handles both single-material and multi-material objects. The same apparatus and method can process a single shell and automatically generate fragments with healed faces that are ready for multi-material formation, eliminating the need for separate processing pipelines for different object types
3Ease of manufacture
If the fracturing process is performed as a separate preprocessing step, then the shell can be divided into fragments, but this creates time-consuming preprocessing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the fracturing operation with the slicing process into a single integrated workflow. Instead of performing fracturing as a separate preprocessing step that consumes additional time, the shell is fractured into fragments and the fragments are healed as part of the same computational process that generates the layer data, eliminating redundant preprocessing time
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus is provided for fracturing a shell of a three-dimensional object. The apparatus may be caused to receive a shell of a three-dimensional object composed of a plurality of facets including first facets and distinct second facets, and form layer data defining a plurality of layers of the shell for use in forming the three-dimensional object on a layer-by-layer basis. At least some of the plurality of layers may include respective first fragments, and at least some of the plurality of layers may include respective second fragments. The first fragments may be produced by first facets and exclusive of second facets, and the second fragments may be produced by second facets and exclusive of first facets. And at least one layer of the plurality of layers may include both a first fragment of the respective first fragments, and a second fragment of the respective second fragments.