Technical Paper
Topology and Build Orientation Optimization for Additive Manufacturing: Influence of Printing on Raft and Build Plate
2024-04-09
2024-01-2572
As additive manufacturing technology advances, it is becoming a more feasible option for fabricating highly complex, lightweight structures in the automotive industry. To take advantage of the improved design freedom and to reduce support structures for the selected printing orientation, components must be designed specifically for additive manufacturing. A new approach for accomplishing this process combines topology and build orientation optimization, which aims to simultaneously determine the ideal build direction and component design to maximize stiffness and reduce additive manufacturing costs. Current techniques in literature are formulated for specific categories of additive manufacturing: either methods that print on a support structure raft or print directly on the build plate. However, these two categories have very different relationships between part orientation and support structure, resulting in distinct optimal orientations for each additive manufacturing category.