Design for additive manufacturing of topology-optimized structures based on deep learning and transfer learning

Purpose This paper aims to improve the manufacturability of additive manufacturing (AM) for topology-optimized (TO) structures. Enhancement of manufacturability focuses on modifying geometric constraints and classifying the building orientation (BO) of AM parts to reduce stresses and support structures (SSs). To this end, artificial intelligence (AI) networks are being developed to automate design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). Design/methodology/approach This study considers three geometric constraints for their correction by convolutional autoencoders (CAEs) and transfer learning (TL). Furthermore, BOs of AM parts are classified using generative adversarial (GAN) and classification networks to reduce the SS. To verify the results, finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to compare the stresses of modified components with the original ones. Moreover, one sample is produced by the laser-based powder bed fusion (LB-PBF) in the BO predicted by the AI to observe its SSs. Findings CAE and TL resulted in promoting the manufacturability of TO components. FEA demonstrated that enhancing manufacturability leads to a 50% reduction in stresses. Additionally, training GAN and pre-training the ResNet-18 resulted in 80%, 95% and 96% accuracy for training, validation and testing. The production of a sample with LB-PBF demonstrated that the predicted BO by ResNet-18 does not require SSs. Originality/value This paper provides an automatic platform for DfAM of TO parts. Consequently, complex TO parts can be designed most feasibly and manufactured by AM technologies with minimal material usage, residual stresses and distortions.