Part Decomposition and Evaluation Based on Standard Design Guidelines for Additive Manufacturability and Assemblability

Published

November 19, 2020

Author(s)

Yosep Oh, Hyunwoong Ko, Timothy A. Sprock, William Z. Bernstein, Soonjo Kwon

Abstract

In comparison to traditional manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has facilitated the production of complex part geometries. However, AM suffers from its own limitations, such as the need for support structures, presence of the stair-step effect and hollow spaces, as well as longer build times. Recently, Part Decomposition (PD) techniques have been deployed to overcome these limitations. PD refers to the process of decomposing an original model into sub-assemblies. In the literature, PD studies have often proposed specific design considerations to evaluate that an original model is properly decomposed. For a comprehensive perspective, we address common and essential design considerations based on the standard design guidelines for AM in ISO/ASTM 52910. Since the standard design guidelines cover a variety of perspectives, the design considerations are organized in terms of additive manufacturability and assemblability. Then, we define evaluation indicators for the design considerations as mathematical forms to quantitatively evaluate decomposed parts. The evaluation indicators are applied to the optimization for PD. As an optimization approach, a genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to recursively evaluate the outcomes of PD. In the GA, PD processes including concave feature-based PD (CPD) and convex feature-base PD (VPD) are considered to elaborately decompose an original model. When our optimization approach is compared to Near-convex Decomposition (NCD), on average, the material consumption is reduced by up to 26 % and 62 % for material extrusion and vat photopolymerization processes, respectively.

Citation

Additive Manufacturing

Volume

37

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

Part decomposition, Additive manufacturability, Assemblability, Evaluation, Optimization, Standard design guidelines

Citation

Oh, Y. , Ko, H. , Sprock, T. , Bernstein, W. and Kwon, S. (2020), Part Decomposition and Evaluation Based on Standard Design Guidelines for Additive Manufacturability and Assemblability, Additive Manufacturing, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101702 (Accessed April 23, 2024)