Structural Design of Path Strategy for Additive Manufacturing

该项目与Altair Engineering Canada合作，旨在研究熔丝制造的刀具路径生成-一种增材制造（AM）技术。本研究将应用结构拓扑优化，并在标准刀具路径规划中纳入零件弹性和强度的要求，以便为特定应用产生合适的内部几何形状。大多数AM工艺通过CNC刀具路径来制造零件，以填充和积累固体材料。有研究发现，填充方式决定了零件的最终力学性能。在拟议的项目中，拓扑优化将扩展到AM工艺中使用的填充模式的设计。将研究和转移不同填充模式的结构特性，以提高构建部件的性能。这项研究的重点是调查打印机的刀具路径对3D打印部件静态负载条件下的机械响应的影响。受一种基于主应力线的结构拓扑优化方法的启发，以最小化零件柔度和材料消耗为目标，对与主应力线重合的刀具路径进行分析。PSL是一种全新的设计方法，它从数学公式中提取设计原则，将高维、计算量大的优化问题转化为几何设计问题，从而可以高效地进行设计，并提供显式的设计控制。FFF打印机将制造设计的零件进行实验验证，并将其与其他填充图案和材料进行比较。与Altair Engineering Canada的该项目合作与制造研究有关，对蒙特利尔（魁北克）至关重要，蒙特利尔是航空航天，汽车和能源行业的顶级国际中心。在此项目中获得的设计和制造知识将被转移到支持公司，并提供良好的培训机会，未来的HQP在加拿大。

This proposed project in collaboration with Altair Engineering Canada aims at studying the toolpath generation for fused filament fabrication - an additive manufacturing (AM) technology. This research will apply structural topology optimization and incorporate the requirements of part elasticity and strength in the standard toolpath planning, so that a suitable internal geometry can be produced for a specific application.The majority of AM processes fabricate parts by CNC the tool path to fill and accumulate material in the solid. There are studies found that the way of filling determines the final mechanical properties of the part. In the proposed project, topology optimization will be extended to the design of filling patterns used in AM processes. The structural properties of different filling patterns will be studied and transferred to improve the performance of built parts. This research is focused on investigating the effects of the printer's toolpath on the mechanical response of the 3D printed part to static loading conditions. Inspired by a novel structural topology optimization method based on principal stress lines (PSL), an analysis of toolpath coinciding with principal stress lines will be conducted with the goal of minimizing the part's compliance and material usage. PSL is a brand-new method that extracts the design principles from mathematics formulations and converts the high-dimensional and computational expensive optimization to a geometric design problem, so that it can be performed very efficiently and it can provide explicit design control. A FFF printer will fabricate the designed parts for experimental validation and compare it with other filling patterns and materials.This project collaboration with Altair Engineering Canada is related to manufacturing research and is of importance to Montreal (Quebec), a top international centre for aerospace, automotive, and energy industries. The design and manufacturing knowledge gained in this project will be transferred to the supporting company and provide excellent training opportunities of future's HQP in Canada.