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Trajectory Optimization for Non-Planar 3D Printing
3D printing is a prominent advanced manufacturing process that is capable of producing complex geometries at relatively low cost. A 3D object is produced in a layer-wise fashion and material is extruded, merged, or solidified at each layer to make a sound object. While traditional 3D printing makes use of planar slices of a 3D object for manufacturing, non-planar layers, i.e., layers that do not necessarily lie on a plane, but rather follow a 3D surface, may improve the mechanical properties of the finished part when combined with suitable material properties. This project investigates trajectory optimization for such non-planar tool paths to improve the mechanical properties of 3D printed parts.
The complete project description is available in the attached document.
Keywords: Data-driven modeling, Trajectory Optimization, 3D Printing, Finite Elements Analysis
In this project, we are interested in developing and testing trajectory optimization methods for a non-planar 3D printing process shown in the attached Figures. The process utilizes a 5-axis custom 3D printer that has been developed by an industrial partner. The printer can extrude strands of material through its nozzle while performing 5 axis motions. A state-of-the-art anisotropic material with great mechanical properties, e.g., improved tensile strength, along the extrusion direction of each strand is used in the process. Our goal is to optimize the non-planar toolpath to align the extruded strands with the stress flow of the printed part in an efficient way, while satisfying process constraints. The resulting parts have great mechanical properties and strength under the designed loading conditions, when compared to parts that are printed with planar 3D printing, i.e., the conventional 3D printing.
The project will build on existing work developed in another student project that is currently finishing. The current project utilizes a stress analysis tensor provided by a finite elements analysis solver to generate non-planar tool paths that are uniformly continuous along the part geometry. Using the baseline solution from the existing work, this posting aims to improve the trajectory optimization problem in directions that include but are not limited to the following.
- Performing system identification on the extrusion system to actively adjust the printed material width and height in order to maximize the length of each deposited strand. Longer continuous strands have shown to increase the mechanical properties in the literature.
- Collision avoidance of the extruder head with respect to the printed part and the build plane during the 5 axis motions.
- The current solution works with relatively simple geometries where a surface tangent can be easily approximated for evaluating non-planar layers. One of the important tasks is to improve this by incorporating layers that may follow trajectories that cannot be approximated by surface tangents of the printed part.
The direction of work will be finalized based on the student's interest and expertise, within the first few weeks of the project. Various methods from trajectory optimization, mathematical modeling, and optimization may be utilized to develop novel solutions.
The student is expected to develop a solution in a simulation environment, e.g. Matlab, and then implement the resulting tool paths on the experimental machine at the ETH Honggerberg campus. The machine has all necessary interfaces and G-Code compilers to print an input trajectory without issues. Additionally, our industrial partner has mechanical testing capabilities, therefore the proposed solutions can be benchmarked against existing solutions.
In this project, we are interested in developing and testing trajectory optimization methods for a non-planar 3D printing process shown in the attached Figures. The process utilizes a 5-axis custom 3D printer that has been developed by an industrial partner. The printer can extrude strands of material through its nozzle while performing 5 axis motions. A state-of-the-art anisotropic material with great mechanical properties, e.g., improved tensile strength, along the extrusion direction of each strand is used in the process. Our goal is to optimize the non-planar toolpath to align the extruded strands with the stress flow of the printed part in an efficient way, while satisfying process constraints. The resulting parts have great mechanical properties and strength under the designed loading conditions, when compared to parts that are printed with planar 3D printing, i.e., the conventional 3D printing.
The project will build on existing work developed in another student project that is currently finishing. The current project utilizes a stress analysis tensor provided by a finite elements analysis solver to generate non-planar tool paths that are uniformly continuous along the part geometry. Using the baseline solution from the existing work, this posting aims to improve the trajectory optimization problem in directions that include but are not limited to the following.
- Performing system identification on the extrusion system to actively adjust the printed material width and height in order to maximize the length of each deposited strand. Longer continuous strands have shown to increase the mechanical properties in the literature. - Collision avoidance of the extruder head with respect to the printed part and the build plane during the 5 axis motions. - The current solution works with relatively simple geometries where a surface tangent can be easily approximated for evaluating non-planar layers. One of the important tasks is to improve this by incorporating layers that may follow trajectories that cannot be approximated by surface tangents of the printed part.
The direction of work will be finalized based on the student's interest and expertise, within the first few weeks of the project. Various methods from trajectory optimization, mathematical modeling, and optimization may be utilized to develop novel solutions. The student is expected to develop a solution in a simulation environment, e.g. Matlab, and then implement the resulting tool paths on the experimental machine at the ETH Honggerberg campus. The machine has all necessary interfaces and G-Code compilers to print an input trajectory without issues. Additionally, our industrial partner has mechanical testing capabilities, therefore the proposed solutions can be benchmarked against existing solutions.
The goals of the project are as follows:
- Understand the existing methods for non-planar trajectory optimization and perform a literature review of relevant methods;
- Improve the existing solutions in one or more of the selected directions and implement a solution in simulation;
- Test the developed solution on the experimental setup to demonstrate the improvement experimentally;
The goals of the project are as follows: - Understand the existing methods for non-planar trajectory optimization and perform a literature review of relevant methods; - Improve the existing solutions in one or more of the selected directions and implement a solution in simulation; - Test the developed solution on the experimental setup to demonstrate the improvement experimentally;
Please send your resume/CV (including lists of relevant publications/projects) and transcript of records in PDF format via email to ebalta@ethz.ch, guidetti@inspire.ethz.ch, rupenyan@inspire.ethz.ch
Please send your resume/CV (including lists of relevant publications/projects) and transcript of records in PDF format via email to ebalta@ethz.ch, guidetti@inspire.ethz.ch, rupenyan@inspire.ethz.ch