Toolpath Design for Additive Manufacturing Using Graph Theory
[Thesis]
Cheng, Puikei
Liu, Wing Kam
Northwestern University
2020
126
Ph.D.
Northwestern University
2020
Metal Additive manufacturing (AM) processes build 3D objects by heating and consolidating material in a point-by-point manner. Unlike traditional manufacturing methods, AM allows the material properties of each point in the build to vary by controlling process conditions locally. The process parameters can be considered as inputs to the AM system, whereas the resulting thermal, microstructural, or property distributions can be considered as outputs to the AM system. Characterizing how AM inputs affect AM outputs is a forward problem. On the contrary, process parameter design involves solving the backward, or inverse, problem. AM presents the opportunity for extremely flexible design, but it also greatly increases the complexity of the search for the optimal set of process parameters.