Topology Optimization for Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing: Generating designs tailored to the deposition nozzle size

TL;DR

This paper introduces methods to incorporate nozzle size constraints into topology optimization for large-scale additive manufacturing, producing designs compatible with process resolution and deposition paths.

Contribution

It proposes two novel topology optimization techniques that account for nozzle size, enabling the creation of process-aware, manufacturable designs for large-scale additive manufacturing.

Findings

Methods produce designs with features matching nozzle size

Designs resemble structural skeletons suitable for deposition paths

Techniques validated on 2D and 3D benchmark problems

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes intended for large scale components deposit large volumes of material to shorten process duration. This reduces the resolution of the AM process, which is typically defined by the size of the deposition nozzle. If the resolution limitation is not considered when designing for Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM), difficulties can arise in the manufacturing process, which may require the adaptation of the deposition parameters. This work incorporates the nozzle size constraint into Topology Optimization (TO) in order to generate optimized designs suitable to the process resolution. This article proposes and compares two methods, which are based on existing TO techniques that enable control of minimum and maximum member size, and of minimum cavity size. The first method requires the minimum and maximum member size to be equal to the deposition nozzle size, thus design features of uniform width are obtained in the optimized design. The second method defines the size of the solid members sufficiently small for the resulting structure to resemble a structural skeleton, which can be interpreted as the deposition path. Through filtering and projection techniques, the thin structures are thickened according to the chosen nozzle size. Thus, a topology tailored to the size of the deposition nozzle is obtained along with a deposition proposal. The methods are demonstrated and assessed using 2D and 3D benchmark problems.