An Interactive Web-Based Platform for Support Generation and Optimisation for Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Area of Science:

• Additive Manufacturing
• Materials Science

Background:

• Powder Bed Fusion-Laser Beam (PBF-LB) is crucial for complex, lightweight components in aerospace, automotive, and healthcare.
• Challenges in PBF-LB include part defects, high costs, and critical support structure design.
• Inadequate supports lead to part failure, while excessive supports increase material use and post-processing time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the need for advanced software in PBF-LB/M for support structure generation and thermomechanical behavior prediction.
• To minimize printing defects, reduce material consumption, shorten printing times, and enhance print quality.
• To introduce a user-friendly, web-based platform for optimizing support structures in metal additive manufacturing.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web-based platform for additive manufacturing.
• Integration of the PySLM library for generating block-type support structures with diamond perforations.
• Implementation of a user-friendly interface for importing 3D parts and generating supports.

Main Results:

• A functional web-based platform (v0.6) for PBF-LB/M support generation is introduced.
• The platform allows users to import 3D models and generate optimized support structures.
• The tool is accessible online, interactive, and available at no cost.

Conclusions:

• The developed platform offers a valuable solution for optimizing support structures in PBF-LB/M.
• It aids in mitigating common printing issues, reducing costs, and improving the efficiency of metal additive manufacturing.
• The accessibility and user-friendliness of the platform promote wider adoption and further development in the field.