Improving additive manufacturing performance by build orientation optimization

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging type of production technology to create three-dimensional objects layer-by-layer directly from a 3D CAD model. AM is being extensively used in several areas by engineers and designers. Build orientation is a critical issue in AM since it is associated with the part accuracy, the number of supports required and the processing time to produce the object. This paper presents an optimization approach to solve the part build orientation problem taking into account some characteristics or measures that can affect the accuracy of the part, namely the volumetric error, the support area, the staircase effect, the build time, the surface roughness and the surface quality. A global optimization method, the Electromagnetism-like algorithm, is used to solve the part build orientation problem.The authors are grateful to the anonymous referees for their fruitfulcomments and suggestions. This work has been supported and developed under the FIBR3Dproject - Hybrid processes based on additive manufacturing of composites with long or shortfibers reinforced thermoplastic matrix (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016414), supported by theLisbon Regional Operational Programme 2020, under the PORTUGAL 2020 PartnershipAgreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work hasbeen also supported by national funds through FCT - Funda ̧c ̃ao para a Ciˆencia e Tecnologiawithin the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/201

Multi-objective optimization in the build orientation of a 3D CAD model

Over the years, rapid prototyping technologies have grown and have been implemented in many 3D model production companies. A variety of different additive manufacturing (AM) techniques are used in rapid prototyping. AM refers to a process by which digital 3D design data is used to build up a component in layers by depositing material. Several high-quality parts are being created in various engineering materials, including metal, ceramics, polymers and their combinations in the form of composites, hybrids, or functionally classified materials. The orientation of 3D models is very important since it can have a great influence on the surface quality characteristics, such as process planning, post-processing, processing time and cost. Thus, the identification of the optimal build orientation for a part is one of the main issues in AM. The quality measures to optimize the build orientation problem may include the minimization of the surface roughness, build time, need of supports, maximize of the part stability in building process or part accuracy, among others. In this paper, a multi-objective approach was applied to a computer-aided design model using MATLAB® multi-objective genetic algorithm, aiming to optimize the support area, the staircase effect and the build time. Preliminary results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.This work has been supported and developed under the FIBR3D project - Hybrid processes based on additive manufacturing of composites with long or short fibers rein forced thermoplastic matrix (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016414), supported by the Lisbon Regional Operational Programme 2020, under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work has been also supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UID8/00319/2020 and the European project MSCA-RISE-2015, NEWEX, with reference 734205

A multi-objective approach to solve the build orientation problem in additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been increasingly used in the creation of three-dimensional objects, layer-by-layer, from three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) models. The problem of determining the 3D model printing orientation can lead to reduced amount of supporting material, build time, costs associated with the deposited material, labor costs, and other factors. This problem has been formulated and studied as a single-objective optimization problem. More recently, due to the existence and relevance of considering multiple criteria, multi-objective approaches have been developed. In this paper, a multi-objective optimization approach is proposed to solve the part build orientation problem taking into account the support area characteristics and the build time. Therefore, the weighted Tchebycheff scalarization method embedded in the Electromagnetism-like Algorithm will be used to solve the part build orientation bi-objective problem of four 3D CAD models. The preliminary results seem promising when analyzing the Pareto fronts obtained for the 3D CAD models considered. Concluding, the multi-objective approach effectively solved the build orientation problem in AM, finding several compromise solutions.This work has been supported and developed under the FIBR3D project - Hybrid processes based on additive manufacturing of composites with long or short fibers reinforced thermoplastic matrix (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016414), supported by the Lisbon Regional Operational Programme 2020, under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was also supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019