SUPPORT DESIGN RULES FOR PART’S NON-HORIZONTAL UNDERSURFACE IN STEREOLITHOGRAPHY

Hong Jun  Tang Yiping  Lu Bingheng

(School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049)

Wu  Dianliang

(School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200030)

Abstract: In stereolithography, support structural design will greatly affect the building accuracy of the prototype. The warping mechanism is studied through the analysis on the building process of part’s non-horizontal undersurface. Then with FEM calculation model of the mechanics behaviors between adjacent layers during the prototype building process, the FEM calculation simulation and experimental verification on the relationship between overhang length and warpage are performed, hence some design rules about the structure, layout and intervals of the support are suggested aiming at improving the building accuracy of the prototype. Through experiment, it is proved that these design rules can effectively ensure the building quality of the SL prototypes.

Key words: Stereolithography  Rapid prototyping  Support design

CLC No: TH161.5

国家863计划(2002AA414110, 2002AA414060)和上海市重点科技攻关(021111126)资助项目. Received 20030612, received in revised form 20040202