Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics (DIIIE), University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
Research & Development department, 3DPRN, 65013 Pescara, Italy.
Sensors (Basel). 2020 Jan 14;20(2):470. doi: 10.3390/s20020470.
The three-dimensional printing of complex shapes without using supporting structures is the most attractive factor of merit in current additive manufacturing because it allows to drastically reduce printing time, and ideally nullify postprocessing and waste material. In this work, we present an innovative procedure and algorithm (Print on Air, PoA) for additive manufacturing that, relying on sensing systems embedded into the three-dimensional (3D) printer (e.g., temperature and speed sensors), aims at generating a printing sequence capable of a self-sustaining bridge and overhang structures. This feature was achieved by splitting the actual floating area of the layer where the aforementioned structures are in many subsections. Each is generated with a negligible floating surface and printed in a well-determined sequence with accurate temperature and speed profiles. Therefore, each subsection is formed without the need for scaffolding, simultaneously acting as a supporting structure for the following subsection. The array of subsections constitutes the actual bridge or overhang structure. The proposed method can be used for any object, including very long bridges or convex surfaces. The revolutionary method is here reported and evaluated in order to show its applicability in any condition. Although the study was conducted in a Fused Deposition Material (FDM) environment, it can certainly be adapted to other manufacturing environments with adequate modifications.
无需使用支撑结构即可打印复杂形状的 3D 打印是当前增材制造最吸引人的优点，因为它可以大大减少打印时间，并理想地消除后处理和浪费材料。在这项工作中，我们提出了一种用于增材制造的创新程序和算法（Print on Air，PoA），该算法依赖于嵌入到三维（3D）打印机中的感测系统（例如温度和速度传感器），旨在生成能够自支撑桥和悬垂结构的打印序列。通过将上述结构所在层的实际浮动区域划分为许多子区域来实现此功能。每个子区域的浮起表面都非常小，并以准确的温度和速度曲线按确定的顺序打印。因此，每个子部分都无需支撑即可形成，同时充当后续子部分的支撑结构。子部分的阵列构成了实际的桥或悬垂结构。本文报道并评估了所提出的方法，以展示其在任何条件下的适用性。尽管该研究是在熔丝制造（Fused Deposition Material，FDM）环境中进行的，但通过适当的修改，它肯定可以适应其他制造环境。
