Models partition for 3D printing objects using skeleton
Abstract
Purpose
It is a challenge to print a model with the size that is larger than the working volume of a three-dimensional (3D) printer. The purpose of this paper is to present a feasible approach to divide a large model into small printing parts to fit the volume of a printer and then assemble these parts into the final model.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed approach is based on the skeletonization and the minima rule. The skeleton of a printing model is first extracted using the mesh contraction and the principal component analysis. The 3D model is then partitioned preliminarily into many smaller parts using the space sweep method and the minima rule. The preliminary partition is finally optimized using the greedy algorithm.
Findings
The skeleton of a 3D model can effectively represent a simplified version of the geometry of the 3D model. Using a model’s skeleton to partition the model is an efficient way. As it is generally desirable to have segmentations at concave creases and seams, the cutting position should be located in the concave region. The proposed approach can partition large models effectively to well retain the integrity of meaningful parts.
Originality/value
The proposed approach is new in the rapid prototyping field using the model skeletonization and the minima rule. Based on the authors’ knowledge, there is no method that concerns the integrity of meaningful parts for partitioning. The proposed method can achieve satisfactory results by the integrity of meaningful parts and assemblability for most 3D models.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Aeronautical Science Foundation of China (No. 20151652024), Jiangsu Province science and technology support plan project (No. BE2014009-3), Program of National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51175248) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61502137), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (No. BK20161487) and six talent peaks project in Jiangsu Province, China (No. GDZB-034).
Citation
Jiang, X., Cheng, X., Peng, Q., Liang, L., Dai, N., Wei, M. and Cheng, C. (2017), "Models partition for 3D printing objects using skeleton", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 54-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-07-2015-0091
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited