A method is disclosed for generating a component mesh of a component that may be built-up layer by layer in an additive manufacturing build-up process. The method includes providing a three-dimensional initial component mesh composed of initial mesh elements of uniform shape which include initial mesh nodes and initial mesh edges extending between the initial mesh nodes; slicing the initial component mesh by at least one cutting plane such that initial mesh elements are divided into at least two resulting mesh elements, wherein at the intersection points of the at least one cutting plane with edges of initial mesh elements resulting mesh nodes are defined; determining the position of each initial mesh element with respect to each cutting plane and thus which initial mesh element is divided into resulting mesh elements and which is not; and determining the shape of each resulting mesh element.

A method for three-dimensional printing includes dithering a set surface of the printing object and printing the printing object with the dithered surface. The dithering includes determining the set surface of the printing object, providing a spatially high-frequent dithering signal, and modifying the set surface as a function of the dithering signal. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions that implement the method. A 3D printing device includes a printing device and a control unit configured to control the printing device using the method.

The present disclosure is directed to a method and system for hierarchical multi-scale design with the aid of a digital computer. A hierarchical representation of a shape and material distribution is constructed which satisfies a top-level constraint at a top-level of representation. Properties for families of designs at each of the lower levels of representation that satisfy additional constraints link each of the lower levels of representation to at least a next higher level of the representation.

Techniques for evaluating support for an object to be fabricated via an additive fabrication device are provided. In some embodiments, a three-dimensional representation of the object is obtained and a plurality of voxels corresponding to the representation of the object is generated. A first supportedness value may be assigned to a first voxel of the plurality of voxels based on an amount of support provided by a support structure to the first voxel, and a second supportedness value determined for a second voxel of the plurality of voxels, wherein the second voxel neighbors the first voxel, and wherein the second supportedness value is determined based on the first supportedness value of the first voxel and a weight value representing a transmission rate of supportedness through voxels of the plurality of voxels.

A method (1100) of fabricating a personalised orthopaedic cast (900) is disclosed. The method (1100) includes 3D scanning of a body part of a user, generating a Computer Aided Design (CAD) of an orthopaedic cast (900) for the scanned body part, and simulating real-life conditions to determine mechanical stability of the modelled cast. The mechanical stability is determined through Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The method (1100) includes determining whether the mechanical stability of the modelled cast is acceptable. The method (1100) includes finalising the CAD model when the mechanical stability of the modelled cast is found to be acceptable. The method (1100) includes 3D printing the finalised CAD model to fabricate the personalised orthopaedic cast (900).

A novel process for creating porous structures via additive manufacturing processes such as material deposition or powder bed fusion additive manufacturing is provided. The process reduces the computational requirement for generation of the porous structure geometry and for processing the porous structure geometry to generate CNC code. The process provides reduced file size for CNC code and avoids large files which may exceed capacity of manufacturing machines. The process also significantly reduces the time required to manufacture the porous structure on an additive manufacturing machine.

Model data is obtained, defining parts to be generated by a three-dimensional printer. A sprue is determined to connect the parts, and a label is automatically generated on the sprue which identifies the parts connected to the sprue. Modified model data is generated representing the parts and the sprue.

A method for developing an evolved structure by artificial evolution includes: obtaining one or more properties of a biological structure; computationally evolve the biological structure to obtain an evolved descriptor; inverse-mapping the evolved description to real space to form an evolved structure design; and constructing the evolved structure. The evolved structure comprises stronger performance across the properties than the biological structure. In an example aspect, a method for constructing an evolved structure includes: removing sericin from a cocoon; forming a first solution from the cocoon with removed sericin; forming a silk fibroin powder from the first solution; dissolving the silk fibroin powder to form a second solution; and electro spinning the second solution based on the evolved structure design.

A method of generating printhead actuation data for printing a 3-D object, the method comprising the steps of: slicing, for a given 3-D object having 3-D object data corresponding thereto, the 3-D object data into a series of layers; and generating a 2-D vector graphics image associated with each layer, wherein the colour and/or the density of colour within the 2-D vector graphics image at a given point is used to determine at least one property of the material to be ejected, during printing, at that given point in the image.

Improved gas flow systems and methods for use with powder bed-based laser additive manufacturing chambers are described. The disclosed gas flow configurations and associated build chamber designs enhance the removability of laser melting emissions. In accordance with various configurations, the clear rate of generated-spatter contamination is improved by employing system designs in which the gas flow outlet is lowered toward the substrate, the gas flow inlet channel length is increased, uniform gas flow is enabled using multi-channeled pumps, and/or one or more supplementary gas inlet flows are introduced to the chamber design.