Multi-Axis Additive Manufacturing for Customized Automotive Components

TL;DR

This paper presents a variable exposure method for multi-axis DLP 3D printing that reduces layer count and print time for complex automotive components by modulating UV exposure based on local layer thickness.

Contribution

A novel low-overhead technique that adjusts UV exposure per sublayer to handle non-uniform layer thickness in multi-axis DLP printing, enhancing efficiency and accuracy.

Findings

Significant reduction in total layer count and print time.

Improved geometric accuracy without additional hardware.

Application potential in automotive component prototyping.

Abstract

The reproduction of automobile components through additive manufacturing presents significant geometric challenges, as many automotive parts feature complex, organically shaped surfaces that are difficult to fabricate accurately using conventional 3D printing approaches without wasteful support structures. Multi-axis Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing addresses this by orienting a robotic arm to cure resin layers at varying angles and positions, enabling the fabrication of geometries that fixed-axis systems cannot reliably reproduce. However, this flexibility introduces a key challenge: layers printed at non-orthogonal orientations exhibit non-uniform thickness across their cross-section, which traditional DLP systems cannot accommodate without subdividing the layer, increasing total layer count, print time, and the need for supporting structures. This paper introduces a variable exposure method to address this challenge. Rather than splitting a non-uniform layer into multiple uniform ones, our approach divides each layer into sublayers and modulates the UV illumination duration for each sublayer proportionally to its local thickness. This is governed by an established cure-depth equation relating exposure time to material penetration depth, allowing precise control over curing without additional hardware. The result is a meaningful reduction in total layer count for printed objects. Fewer layers directly translates to faster print times and a reduction in wasteful support structures. Our contribution is a practical and low-overhead extension to existing multi-axis DLP pipelines that improves print efficiency without sacrificing geometric accuracy, with clear applications in the rapid prototyping and reproduction of automotive components.