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(a) Multi-axis toolpath planning algorithm flow chart, (b) Model material toolpath for the tensile bar, (c) Support material toolpath for the 45° tensile bar, (d) Stitched GCode program, and (e) Printed 45° tensile bar
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Purpose
Material extrusion (ME) suffers from anisotropic mechanical properties that stem from the three degree of freedom (DoF) toolpaths used for deposition. The formation of each layer is restricted to the XY-plane, which produces poorly bonded layer interfaces along the build direction. Multi-axis ME affords the opportunity to change the layeri...
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... algorithm used in this work is shown in Figure 2. At a high level, the algorithm orients the part such that its desired build direction aligns with the global z-axis and then slices the part, as in typical 3-DoF deposition. ...
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... required, the algorithm also generates the support material necessary for successful fabrication of the desired part, attaching the quaternion corresponding to XYplanar layers to each XYZ-coordinate. This is reflected in Figure 2(a), with highlighted processes elaborated in the following text: 1 Generate base model GCode: The developed algorithm is compatible with off-the-shelf slicers that produce XYplanar layers, stacked along the z-axis. To achieve a multiaxis toolpath, the part is first oriented such that the desired build direction aligns with the global z-axis in the slicer. ...
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... achieve a multiaxis toolpath, the part is first oriented such that the desired build direction aligns with the global z-axis in the slicer. This allows the layers to be generated in their desired relative orientations, as seen in Figure 2(b). The part is then sliced using any slicing software that outputs GCode commands. ...
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... generate suitable support structure, the part geometry is reoriented in the slicing software to its final global orientation. Slicing takes place again, with model material off, generating the structure seen in Figure 2(c). 4 Attach tool quaternion: The notation needs to be consistent between the support and model material GCode. ...
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... if it was generated, the tool quaternion is attached to each XYZ-coordinate in the support material GCode, denoting XY-planar layers. 5 Stitching: After generating the necessary GCode files, the model material GCode is appended to the support material GCode as required [shown in Figure 2 ...
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Citations
... Thus, by controlling the orientation of the extruder, a part with a better surface finish, structural qualities, and less residual stress can be fabricated. In certain conditions, it may also eliminate the need for support for part fabrication through AM [14,15]. Bhatt et al. [16] have shown that the robotic sheet lamination-based AM process offers several benefits over other AM processes such as direct energy deposition and stereolithography. ...
div>This work aims to define a novel integration of 6 DOF robots with an extrusion-based 3D printing framework that strengthens the possibility of implementing control and simulation of the system in multiple degrees of freedom. Polylactic acid (PLA) is used as an extrusion material for testing, which is a thermoplastic that is biodegradable and is derived from natural lactic acid found in corn, maize, and the like. To execute the proposed framework a virtual working station for the robot was created in RoboDK. RoboDK interprets G-code from the slicing (Slic3r) software. Further analysis and experiments were performed by FANUC 2000ia 165F Industrial Robot. Different tests were performed to check the dimensional accuracy of the parts (rectangle and cylindrical). When the robot operated at 20% of its maximum speed, a bulginess was observed in the cylindrical part, causing the radius to increase from 1 cm to 1.27 cm and resulting in a thickness variation of 0.27 cm at the bulginess location. However, after optimizing the speed at 35% of its maximum speed, 100% dimensional accuracy was achieved. The integration resulted in collision-free robot and extrusion movement, flexibility, capability of making large parts, and enhanced dimensional accuracy.</div
... This ensures manufacturability while avoiding deposition conditions that require support structures. Kubalak et al. [101] implemented a multi-axis toolpath generation algorithm on a 6-DoF robotic arm ME system to fabricate tensile specimens at different global orientations. ABS tensile specimens are printed at various inclination angles using the multi-axis technique. ...
Large Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM), or Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM), was introduced to resolve the limitations of the low deposition rate, low scalability, and therefore long print times, of traditional 3D printing methods when applied to the manufacturing of large structures and tooling. LFAM can be used to overcome the high conventional tooling costs of large structures. However, even with robotic setups, LFAM still mainly relies on quasi-planar, 2.5D printing strategies. This fails to reap the advantages of multi-axis printing, such as improved adhesion, reduced support material use, and the ability to create complex curved surfaces.
In this research, a KUKA robotic manipulator capable of motion with 6 degrees of freedom is used as a base to develop a pellet-fed, multi-axis, large-format 3D printer. Two configurations of the printer were assessed: initially, a setup where a bed is mounted to a KUKA KR10 R1100 flange, and where the nozzle remains stationary. Later, the system was transitioned to a large robotic environment, integrating a KUKA KR 120 R2700 robot and KL1500/3 T linear rail. In the second configuration, the extruder is attached to the KUKA end effector, and the bed is stationary. This included the utilization of the 10 m rail, enabling the printing of significantly larger parts. To evaluate the comprehensiveness of the LFAM system utilized in this study, experiments were conducted with various parameters to identify the best printing parameters. The LFAM technology developed in this research was experimentally verified to obtain process parameters for the consumer thermoplastic polymers, using PLA as a printing material. The aim is to demonstrate the potential of LFAM through the printing of a mold for manufacturing a composite nosecone. A tool for nosecone was designed for this purpose, and robotics simulation was conducted accordingly. The goal for the additively manufactured tool is to survive the hand layup and autoclave curing processing. To illustrate LFAM’s advancements, several large parts were printed at a faster rate than conventional printers, with the long-term goal of achieving continuous fiber LFAM. The lessons learned from printing large-scale parts are reviewed and summarized, and recommendations for the use of multi-axis LFAM are made.
... Improving slicing algorithms and harmonizing multi-axial printers can enhance control over material deposition, improving mechanical characteristics [14]. Material extrusion along multiple axes alters layering locally, distinguishing it from traditional 3D printing [9,13]. In a study by Kaill et al., 5-axis printed samples demonstrated predicted mechanical behavior, outperforming 3D printed samples in compression loading tests [8]. ...
... With the development of Multi-direction (Multi-axis) and non-planar slicing strategies [6], it is possible to reduce the use of support structures, minimize staircase effects and improve the mechanical properties of the parts [7]. Multi-axis additive manufacturing machines attain complex motions for AM print heads. ...
A conventional Additive Manufacturing (AM) system has 3-DOF, called 2.5D printing, since the print head moves in X and Y directions, and the print bed goes down (0.5Z) after printing one layer. Traditional AM machines always deposit the material in the direction of gravity. With the advent of multi-axis AM, it is possible to deposit the material in different directions. Multidirectional material deposition and non-planar AM are the prevailing AM techniques. A robotic manipulator has multiple DOFs that can deposit the material in different directions in a continuous 3D space. This paper presents a novel slicing and path planning method to print non-planar layers on a cylindrical surface and provide an information pathway for generating a trajectory starting from an STL CAD model. The process planning is implemented for cylindrical slicing and path planning using a boustrophedon algorithm for a binary map. The infill pattern is generated in planar space and transformed into cylindrical coordinates, and the orientation is generated using a heuristic path to affect the entire process. The cylindrical slicing algorithm is implemented for a 6-DOF robotic manipulator, and the proposed approach detects infill and non-infill regions on the cylinder with the help of binary maps. The proposed technique builds and repairs the parts of cylindrical geometry without any external rotation mechanism.
... Multi-axis 3D printing requires the nozzle system to be perpendicular to the printing interface [56]. Therefore, when designing the multi-axis 3D printed BISI, it was necessary to consider whether the spatial movement of the nozzle system would clash with the previously deposited material of the printed part [57], as shown in Fig. 3(c). To avoid interference and design a periodic BISI within a 5 mm thickness space, the trajectory of BISI was expressed by ...
... tool head) required for each coordinate. In this field, most researchers use XYZ coordinates and quaternions to define the nozzle position and orientation, and use reverse kinematics solvers to calculate the joint angles and axis positions of the robotic arm [57]. ...
The weak layer interfaces of 3D-printed short carbon fiber (SCF) reinforced polymer composites have remained an issue due to planar layer printing by traditional 3D printers. Recently, multi-axis 3D printing technology which can realize non-planar layer printing has been developed. This study’s aim was to evaluate and compare the bonding performance of non-planar interfaces produced by multi-axis 3D printing with that of planar interfaces. The tested non-planar interfaces were designed as bio-inspired structured interfaces (BISIs) based on microstructural interfacial elements in biological materials. The standard specimens with the 0°/90° and 0° infill line directions were printed by a robotic arm multi-axis 3D printer. Double cantilever beam (DCB) and end-notched flexure (ENF) tests were conducted to obtain Mode Ⅰ and Mode Ⅱ interlaminar toughness of SCF-reinforced composites. Test results showed that the critical energy release rates of the integrally formed BISI were significantly improved compared with the planar interface (PLAI) for both Mode I and Mode II delamination. In particular, the BISI with 0° infill line direction exhibited the greatest increase in critical energy release rate, and the damaged areas were spatially swept through the curved interfaces of the BISI with different infill line directions by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and computed tomography (CT), which showed that the higher critical energy release rate was always accompanied with a larger damaged area. In addition, the tensile and flexural properties of 0°-infilled PLAI and BISI specimens were also measured. This work provides an in-depth investigation of the PLAI and BISI properties of SCF-reinforced composites, demonstrating the potential benefits of integrally formed BISI by multi-axis 3D printing and fostering new perspectives to enhance layer interfaces of 3D printed composites.
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1iIj37tcTWlOKr
... The sample with the angle of 90°shows a 153% increase in tensile strength compared to the sample with the angle of 0°. 20 Bin Ishak et al. used single deposition direction and (variable deposition direction) VDD to undertake 3D printing and performance testing on samples with three orientations. The findings demonstrate that altering the deposition direction can increase the elastic modulus, yield strength, and ultimate tensile strength of the samples with a vertical orientation by 6.1%, 13.6% and 6.2%, respectively. ...
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... Being predominantly used for rapid prototyping [1], FFF was hardly preferred for manufacturing functional components. Nevertheless, recent trends from the past decade have shown tremendous improvements to this technology in terms of available materials, software and hardware [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. ...
... Next steps of the work will investigate mechanical performances of components printed with the proposed algorithm against standard infill patterns. Further improvements of the algorithm will also include the implementation of variable width filaments, the extension to multiaxis systems [8] for printing more complex structures and account for an increased number of printing parameters such as the number of perimeters, flow velocity etc. ...
Material extrusion is a popular additive manufacturing process that gained prominence in various industrial applications. The current work addresses the limitations of the existing slicing software in producing parts with customized filament layouts. A new filament deposition algorithm that produces filament paths taking as input arbitrary point-wise orientation fields is presented. Like slicing software, it can control various process parameters, including extrusion width, layer height, filament spacing, number of layers, printing and travel speeds, and produces G-Code instructions. Capabilities of the algorithm are presented by producing parts with both partial and maximum infill and parts with a multi-oriented layer stacking sequence. The results show that the algorithm can print parts with filaments oriented along the input orientation field at different infills, thus making this contribution a potential tool for many applications that demand customized filament placement.
... The improvement in buildability that can be gained by varying the build orientation was demonstrated by Zhao et al. using incline layer slicing [10] or by Kubalak et al. using a multi-axis system [17]. Earliest mention of a technique for printing curved layers was made under the name CLFDM (curved layer fused deposition modelling), with the main benefit of printing near-flat thin walled parts such as turbine blades [18]. ...
... An algorithm that can decompose whole objects for printing on 3-axis machines was published under the name CurviSlicer [28]. The limitation can be overcome by using multi-axis motion to reorient the build orientation, either by dividing the model into parts that can be printed with parallel layers [5,17], or by using local tangent direction and nonplanar trajectories. Xu et al. also described a method for computing these trajectories [29]. ...
The purpose of this study is to determine impact of several multi-axis 3D printing strategies on buildability, surface quality, accuracy, and strength of large scale single-walled object (printed in a so called vase mode). To achieve this goal, test objects were printed using four different printing strategies by an industrial robotic arm and a pellet-fed screw extruder. The strategies tested in this study are regular 3-axis deposition with planar layers, 5-axis deposition with planar layers, 3-axis deposition with nonplanar layers, and 5-axis deposition with nonplanar layers. Custom scripts for nonplanar slicing and for tilt control during multiaxis printing were developed to achieve these prints and are explained in this study. The results were evaluated using 3D scanning and mechanical testing, and surface accuracy, surface roughness, and layer adhesion strength were compared. The most important findings are (1) 5-axis motion alone does not improve the results of the printing; (2) while nonplanar printing can improve surface quality, its usability is geometry dependent; and (3) multi-axis nonplanar printing, even with partial tilt (30°) can expand printability with enhanced quality to at least 75° overhang angle. The future potential of these methods and the requirements to achieve them are discussed.
... The orientation of the layers within a printed part plays a crucial role in the load bearing capacity of that part, in the real world application the part needs to withstand multiple loads in different planes and from different direction, there is no possibility of orienting the layers in the typical 3-DoF (Degree of freedom) deposition. Kubalak, Wicks, and Williams (2019) developed an algorithm to generate multi axis toolpath for the product in a 6-DoF machine, this facilitates the fabrication of tensile specimens at different global orientation. Suitable support materials must also be designed as there is a risk of the deposited material interfering with the tool path. ...
... The multi-axis printing certainly proves to be beneficial but it additionally requires careful planning of clearance, support and tool head dimensions to avoid the collision between tool and the printed part. (Kubalak et al., 2019) The post processing of the buildup parts is mandatory for most industrial applications, the existing procedure for post processing of parts produced through Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) require several preparation steps and involves the risk of workpiece deformation due to multiple cut off and reclamping, which results in lack of automation to the process and results in additional lead time. To avoid this a continuous flow of workpiece is essential for the industrialization of the process, the Wollbrink et al. (2020) developed a substrate plate system that is capable of withstanding the L-PBF process and able to fit in most of the L-PBF machines, the new substrate plate is designed to continue the same substrate plate for the entire process chain with an easy removal of the part and increased life of the substrate plate. ...
... Results of tensile properties for each specimen orientation and deposition strategy(Kubalak J. R., 2019). ...
The Advanced Manufacturing Student Conference (AMSC) represents an educational format designed to foster the acquisition and application of skills related to Research Methods in Engineering Sciences. Participating students are required to write and submit a conference paper and are given the opportunity to present their findings at the conference. The AMSC provides a tremendous opportunity for participants to practice critical skills associated with scientific publication. Conference Proceedings of the conference will benefit readers by providing updates on critical topics and recent progress in the advanced manufacturing engineering and technologies and, at the same time, will aid the transfer of valuable knowledge to the next generation of academics and practitioners.
... Out-of-plane extrusion trajectories can be used in many applications. For example, Kubalak et al. [62] printed ABS tensile dogbone samples in different orientations, including those where inclined and out-of-plane rasters were used. These dogbone samples were fabricated employing two slicing approaches: the conventional 3 DOF and a multi-axis slicing approach that deposits rasters parallel to the principal axis of the dogbone samples. ...
... These dogbone samples were fabricated employing two slicing approaches: the conventional 3 DOF and a multi-axis slicing approach that deposits rasters parallel to the principal axis of the dogbone samples. In [62], the hot end was placed as the end effector in a robotic arm. After orienting the samples and printing the corresponding supports, the quaternion corresponding to the desired extruder orientation is paired with the xyz-coordinate system and included in the G-code. ...
The use of curved layers in extrusion additive manufacturing techniques leads to several benefits, including surface finishing and structural performance. In consequence, numerous works on curved layered fused filament fabrication (CLFFF) have been published recently. Among the research related to CLFFF, different areas can be found, from upgrading FFF machines to characterizing the mechanical properties of curved layered parts. Inspired by the increase in the number of works dedicated to CLFFF, this work presents an overview of the state-of-the-art of this area of additive manufacturing. The analysis includes works related to increasing the mobility and functionality of conventional 3D printers, algorithms for slicing and path planning of CLFFF extruders, and the mechanical characterization of components fabricated via CLFFF. Additionally, discussion of potential future research steps is given for each of the areas reviewed. Finally, the application of CLFFF in the fabrication of lattice metamaterials is also reviewed. Concluding remarks and recommendations in the use of CLFFF are also given.
