Automated Slicing for a Multiaxis Metal Deposition System

A multiaxis adaptive slicing algorithm for multiaxis layered manufacturing, which can generate optimal slices to achieve deposition without support structures, is presented in this paper. Different from current adaptive slicing, this technique varies not only layer thickness but also in slicing/building direction. Aware of potential problems of previous research on slicing, the work in this paper focuses on innovative geometry reasoning and analysis tool-centroidal axis. Similar to medial axis, it contains geometry and topological information but is significantly computationally cheaper. Using a centroidal axis as a guide, the multiaxis slicing procedure is able to generate a three-dimensional layer or change slicing direction as needed automatically to build the part with better surface quality. This paper presents various examples to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of centroidal axis and its usage in the multiaxis slicing process.