Interactive Partitioning of 3D Models into Printable Parts

Area of Science:

• Computer Graphics
• Computational Geometry
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Partitioning large 3D models for 3D printing is challenging.
• Existing methods like Chopper can be computationally intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an easy, flexible, and interactive tool for partitioning large 3D models.
• To improve upon the Chopper framework for 3D model partitioning.

Main Methods:

• The tool incorporates interactive operations: no-go region painting, cutting plane specification, and component reunion.
• It enhances the Chopper partitioning optimization framework.

Main Results:

• The developed tool avoids the exhaustive search in the BSP tree, reducing computation time.
• It enables more flexible geometric configurations and considers user design intentions.
• Customized 3D partitioning results were achieved for various models.

Conclusions:

• The interactive tool offers an effective and efficient solution for 3D model partitioning for additive manufacturing.
• Preliminary user studies confirm the tool's effectiveness and efficiency in practical applications.