A virtual dual-level reconfigurable additive manufacturing system for digital object fabrication

Abstract

This paper proposes a virtual dual-level reconfigurable additive manufacturing system (DRAMS) for simulation and verification of deposition strategies in digital fabrication of product prototypes. The DRAMS is aimed to improve additive manufacturing (AM) processes with the concept of system reconfiguration. It consists of adaptable support and manipulation modules for deposition of fabrication materials. Topologies are investigated to determine the structures of these modules, and methods are developed to evaluate and optimize the system configuration. Simulations show that the DRAMS can not only handle prototypes of different sizes and fabrication materials, but also increase the process speed. The DRAMS offers an effective tool for simulation, verification and optimization of deposition strategies under different system configurations to improve process performance.