Sheet Solid Slicing Method for 3D Models

To against the demerits of slicing methods based on STL model in 3D printing, a sheet solid slicing method of 3D models is presented. In this method, a sheet solid which thickness is equal to the layer thickness is using to intersect with 3D model, and the result of the intersection is target sheet solid which upper and lower surface profiles are the 2D profiles of two neighbor layers at that position. One half of intersection is saved, and the slicing efficiency is increased. To reduce the idle running distance, the scanning path is optimized by utilizing minimum spanning tree algorithm, and the area filling algorithm is proposed to another manufacturing process. The case study results justified the feasibility and stability. The path optimization algorithm is independent from CAD systems.