A 3D nesting method based on the convex-concave coding similarity of the voxelized model for additive manufacturing

With the rapid development of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology, the demand for batch printing is increasing, whose central issue is the printing layout. In order to solve the problem of insufficient utilization of space under self-supporting parts by existing nesting algorithms and reduce time spent searching for the placement position and rotation angle, a new 3D layout method is proposed based on the Convex-concave Coding Similarity of the Voxelized model (VCCCS) for AM. The voxelization method is innovatively used to generally show and standardize the geometric convexity and concavity of part surface and layout space. The Orthogonal Convex-concave Surface (OCCS) coding method is proposed to digitize the convexity and concavity of the voxelized model and layout space for the first time. Through finding Convex-concave Similarity Coding Sub-blocks (CCSCSBs), the positions in the similar geometric characteristics between the part and space can be obtained to guide the placement. The VCCCS placement method can make use of the placeable space generated by the self-supporting property of the materials, which avoids the loss of surface accuracy by stacking the parts at the same time. Experiments and corresponding analyses verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and its industrial values.