Analysis of Build Direction in Deposition-Based Additive Manufacturing of Overhang Structures

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained repute as a direct method of fabrication of complex parts. However, the requirement for each layer to be structurally supported can make parts with overhangs hard to produce without alterations to the parts. This work proposes using multi-axis additive manufacturing to fabricate and analyze freeform overhangs such as bridge structures. Multi-axis AM allows reorientation of the build direction so that overhangs can be 3D printed. Consequently, decision on the build orientation is necessary and its result should be analyzed. The effect of the AM build direction with respect to the overhang’s local surface directions will be studied. A Rhinoceros® plugin is designed to generate the path of the multi-axis AM for the unsupported components like roofs, bridges and protrusions. The effects of the build direction on the surface quality and deformation of the components are studied.