Design And Experimental Research On Support Algorithm For Fused Deposition Modeling

Fused Deposition Modeling(FDM)is a kind of layered manufacturing technology with hot-melt material.FDM plays an increasingly important role in many fields for its low cost and high manufacturing speed.The support algorithm is one of essential part among FDM' key technologies.An adaptive support algorithm based on contour data is proposed in this thesis for optimizing support structure' location and shape.A slicing algorithm of digital model is proposed in the thesis,and the contour data obtained by this algorithm can be used in adaptive support algorithm.The proposed slicing algorithm is based on summarizing advantages of the existing slicing algorithms.The concrete steps are as follows: The triangular meshes are divided into many groups and each mesh's adjacent relations are acquired in certain groups.The establishment of the adjacent relations accelerates the process of obtaining the contour data.After obtaining the points of the model's contour,the result of slicing algorithm is verified by simulation.An adaptive support algorithm is proposed in the the thsis.Contour data is reprocessed by using filament's width at the first step of adaptive support algorithm.Then taking the maximal hanging distance as the judgement of unsupporting points.The conditions for stability of support structures is used to get the right support structures.These three parameters(filament's width,maximal hanging distance and conditions for stability of support structures)are applied in adaptive support algorithm,which make the selected unsupporting area more accurate and the generated support structure more reliable.More implemental details of adaptive support algorithm are further expounded after giving out its basic principle.Adaptive support algorithm's reliability is validated by simulation.A self-designed FDM equipment is used to get three adaptive support algorithm' parameters to test adaptive support algorithm's reliability.Then comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the adaptive support algorithm and other mainstream support algorithms through the experimental data.