Squashed-Slice Algorithm Based on STEP-NC for Multi-Material and Multi-Directional Additive Processes

Abstract

Even though additive manufacturing is receiving increasing interest from aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding, the legacy approach using tessellated form representation and cross-section slice algorithm still has the essential limitation of its inaccuracy of geometrical information and volumetric losses of final outputs. This paper introduces an innovative method to represent multi-material and multi-directional layers defined in boundary-representation standard model and to process complex sliced layers without missing volumes by using the proposed squashing operation. Applications of the proposed method to a bending part, an internal structure, and an industrial moulding product show the assurance of building original shape without missing volume during the comparison with the legacy method. The results show that using boundary representation and te squashing algorithm in the geometric process of additive manufacturing is expected to improve the inaccuracy that was the barrier of applying additive process to various metal industries.