Weak support material techniques for alternative additive manufacturing materials

Proper support geometry design is critical for additive manufacturing (AM) techniques to be successful, particularly for material deposition AM techniques, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM). Many methods have been proposed for support geometry generation, mostly geared toward FDM and most often with the objective of minimizing support-material use and part-construction time. Here, two new support geometry algorithms are proposed, which are particularly suitable for weak support materials: the shell technique, whereby the primary support material would collapse under its own weight and thus a second support material is used to create a containment shell; the film technique, whereby a second support material is deposited as a thin film between the part and the primary support material. The proposed techniques also facilitate support material removal, a laborious manual step for many AM processes. Both techniques are demonstrated through the construction of parts using an experimental large-scale 3D foam printer. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.