Stress flow guided non-planar print trajectory optimization for additive manufacturing of anisotropic polymers
Xavier Guidetti, Efe C. Balta, Yannick Nagel, Hang Yin, Alisa Rupenyan, John Lygeros
Abstract
When manufacturing parts using material extrusion additive manufacturing and anisotropic polymers, the mechanical properties of a manufactured component are strongly dependent on the print trajectory orientation. We conduct non-planar slicing and optimize the print trajectories to maximize the alignment between the material deposition direction and the stress flow induced by a predefined load case. The trajectory optimization framework considers manufacturability constraints in the form of uniform layer height and line spacing. We demonstrate the method by manufacturing a load bearing mechanical bracket using a 5-axis 3D printer and a liquid crystal polymer material. The failure strength and stiffness of the optimized bracket are improved by a factor of 44 and 6 respectively when compared with conventional printing.