Systems and methods for structurally analyzing and printing parts

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for performing analysis on a part for printing. The method may comprise receiving, in computer memory, a computer model of the part and partitioning the computer model of the part into at least (i) a first region comprising one or more voids and (ii) a second region that is filled with a representation of a material for forming the part, to yield a partitioned computer model. At least a first mesh may be generated in the first region and at least a second mesh may be generated in the second region to yield a mesh array in the partitioned computer model. The mesh array, including the first mesh and the second mesh, may be to determine one or more properties of the part. The mesh array may be used to generate a print head toolpath usable to print the part.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for performing analysis on a part for printing, comprising:
 (a) receiving, in computer memory, a computer model of said part;   (b) partitioning said computer model of said part into at least (i) a first region comprising one or more voids and (ii) a second region that is filled with a representation of a material for forming said part, to yield a partitioned computer model;   (c) generating at least a first mesh in said first region and at least a second mesh in said second region to yield a mesh array in said partitioned computer model;   (d) using said mesh array, including said first mesh and said second mesh, to determine one or more properties of said part; and   (e) upon determining that said one or more properties meet a predetermined value(s), using said mesh array to generate a print head toolpath usable to print said part.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using said print head toolpath to print said part. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising using fused filament fabrication to print said part. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said first mesh is at a smaller scale than said second mesh. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said second region encloses and/or connects to at least a portion of said first region. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein further comprising performing finite element analysis on said toolpath. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising subjecting said tool path to an intersection algorithm. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said intersection algorithm determines a fiber direction dependent material propert(ies). 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said first mesh is created for an infill pattern of said part to determine material properties of infill regions of said part. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said infill pattern is a repeating pattern. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said infill pattern is harmonic. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said first mesh comprises a sub-mesh for at least one repeating unit of said repeating pattern of said infill pattern. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said at least one repeating unit of said repeating pattern comprises boundary regions and boundary nodes. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said boundary nodes provide stress measurements of said repeating pattern of said infill pattern. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said partitioning said computer model comprises slicing said computer model. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising electronically outputting said print head tool path on a user interface. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said user interface is a graphical user interface. 
     
     
         18 . A method for optimizing a toolpath trajectory for printing a part, comprising:
 (a) receiving, in computer memory, a computer model of said part;   (b) initiating virtual printing of said part in accordance with one or more printing characteristics of a three-dimensional printer, which virtual printing is performed along a virtual print head toolpath in accordance with said computer model of said part;   (c) while virtually printing said part, (i) obtaining one or more physical properties of said part using a physical model, and (ii) determining whether said one or more physical properties of said part measured in (i) meet at least one predetermined performance metric of said part; and   (d) adjusting said virtual print head toolpath upon determining that said one or more physical properties of said part measured in (i) do not meet said at least one predetermined performance metric of said part, to yield an adjusted print head toolpath.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising determining that said one or more physical properties of said part measured in (i) meet at least one predetermined performance metric of said part under said adjusted print head toolpath. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein said virtual printing is in the absence of printing said part. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising printing said part. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said part is printed at least in part while virtually printing said part. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said part is printed along said print head tool path. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said part is printed along said adjusted print head tool path. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said part is printed using fused filament fabrication. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising electronically outputting said adjusted print head toolpath. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising displaying said virtual printing of said part to a user on a graphical user interface. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein displaying said virtual printing comprises displaying said virtual print head toolpath on said graphical user interface. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising generating one or more optimization metrics for said part prior to initiating virtual printing of said part, wherein said one or more optimization metrics is selected from the group consisting of strength, structural deflections, stress, strain, tension, shear, load capacity, stiffness, factor-of safety, weight, strength to weight ratio, envelop geometry, minimal print time, thermal performance, electrical performance, porosity, infill, number of shells, layer height, extruder temperature, solid density, melt density, printing speed, and print head movement speed. 
     
     
         30 . A method for optimizing a tool path trajectory for printing a part using a three-dimensional printer, comprising:
 (a) initiating printing of said part using said three-dimensional printer, which printing is performed adjacent to a base along a toolpath in accordance with a computer model of said part;   (b) while printing said part with said three-dimensional printer along said toolpath, (i) using one or more sensors to measure one or more structural or internal properties of said part, which one or more sensors are external to said base, and (ii) determining whether said one or more structural or internal properties of said part measured in (i) meet at least one performance metric of said part;   (c) adjusting said toolpath upon determining that said one or more structural or internal properties of said part measured in (i) do not meet said at least one performance metric of said part, to yield an adjusted toolpath; and   (d) continuing to print said part along said adjusted toolpath.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said printing includes use of fused filament deposition to generate at least a portion of said part. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising generating one or more optimization metrics for said part prior to initiating printing of said part. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising, prior to initiating printing of said part, analyzing said part by performing thermal modeling, stress modeling, rheology modeling structural analysis, electrical performance, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising using an image processing algorithm to evaluate data generated by said one or more sensors to extract said one or more structural or internal properties of said part. 
     
     
         35 . A method for optimizing a toolpath trajectory for printing a part using a three-dimensional printer, comprising:
 (a) printing said part using said three-dimensional printer, which printing is performed along a toolpath in accordance with a computer model of said part;   (b) while printing said part with said three-dimensional printer along said toolpath, (i) using an optical sensor(s) to measure one or more structural or internal properties of said part, and (ii) determining whether said one or more structural or internal properties of said part measured in (i) meet at least one performance metric of said part;   (c) adjusting said toolpath upon determining that said one or more structural or internal properties of said part measured in (i) do not meet said at least one performance metric of said part, to yield an adjusted print head toolpath; and   (d) continuing to print said part along said adjusted toolpath.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein said printing includes use of fused filament deposition to generate at least a portion of said part. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising generating one or more optimization metrics for said part prior to initiating printing of said part. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising, prior to initiating printing of said part, analyzing said part by performing thermal modeling, stress modeling, rheology modeling structural analysis, electrical performance, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising using an image processing algorithm to evaluate data generated by said optical sensor(s), to extract said one or more structural or internal properties of said part. 
     
     
         40 . A method for printing a part having a non-uniform stress profile, comprising:
 (a) receiving, in computer memory, a computer model of said part;   (b) partitioning said part into at least (i) a first region having a first stress profile and (ii) a second region having a second stress profile that is different than said first stress profile;   (c) generating a print head toolpath in accordance with said first stress profile and said second stress profile, which print head toolpath compensates for stress difference(s) between said first region and said second region; and   (d) outputting instructions comprising said toolpath for use in printing said part.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising printing said part. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41 , further comprising using fused filament fabrication to print said part. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41 , further comprising including fiber reinforcement along maximum non-uniform stress profiles of said first region or second region. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein said second region encloses and/or connects to at least a portion of said first region. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein said partitioning generates one or more parameters for printing said part, wherein said one or more parameters is selected from the group consisting of filament diameter, layer thickness, infill percentage, infill pattern, raster angle, build orientation, extrudate width, layer height, shell number, infill overlap, and grid spacing. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein said partitioning comprises slicing said part into a plurality of layers. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein further comprising performing finite element analysis on said tool path. 
     
     
         48 . A method for structurally analyzing a three-dimensional object, comprising:
 (a) using a model of the three-dimensional object, generating a print head tool path that is usable by a print head to print the three-dimensional object from a material comprising a fiber;   (b) using one or more computer processors to determine a performance of the three-dimensional object based at least in part on (i) one or more properties of the material and (ii) a trajectory of at least one stiffness-contributing portion of the material determined based at least in part on the print head tool path, wherein the at least one stiffness-contributing portion corresponds to the fiber; and   (c) electronically outputting the performance of the three-dimensional object.   
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48 , further comprising
 generating a mesh of analytic elements corresponding to the model of the three-dimensional object; and   determining a trajectory of the at least one stiffness-contributing portion through the mesh of analytic elements.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49 , further comprising determining a three-dimensional stiffness of each of the analytic elements using the at least one stiffness-contributing portion. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 49 , further comprising determining a three-dimensional stiffness of each of the analytic elements based at least in part on one or more of (i) the trajectory of the at least one stiffness-contributing portion through the analytic elements, (ii) the one or more properties of the material, and (iii) an orientation of the at least one stiffness-contributing portion relative to one another. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising:
 determining intersection points and directional vectors of the at least one stiffness contributing portion;   using the intersection points to determine a volume of the analytic elements corresponding to the at least one stiffness contributing portion; and   determining the three-dimensional stiffness of each of the analytic elements using the volume of the analytic elements corresponding to the at least one stiffness contributing portion, the one or more properties of the material, one or more properties of the at least one stiffness contributing portion, and the directional vectors.   
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein determining a trajectory comprises determining the performance of the three-dimensional object based at least in part on an aggregation of three-dimensional stiffnesses of the analytic elements. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 48 , wherein the performance of the three-dimensional object determined in (b) comprises at least one of a displacement field and a stress field of the three-dimensional object. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54 , further comprising:
 receiving use information for the three-dimensional object; and   determining at least one of the displacement field and the stress field of the three-dimensional object based at least in part on the use information.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 48 , further comprising displaying, on a graphical user interface, (i) the performance or (ii) the print head tool path. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56 , further comprising:
 receiving instruction from a user to view a progression of the print head during simulated printing of the three-dimensional object along the print head tool path; and   displaying on the graphical user interface the performance and at least a portion of the print head tool path.   
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 48 , further comprising using a three-dimensional printer comprising the print head to print at least a portion of the three-dimensional object along the print head tool path. 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 58 , wherein the at least the portion of the three-dimensional object is printed if the performance meets with respect to at least one reference performance. 
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 48 , further comprising:
 generating an additional print head tool path upon processing the performance of the three-dimensional object against at least one reference performance, which additional print head tool path provides an additional performance of the three-dimensional object; and   electronically outputting the additional print head tool path, wherein the additional print head tool path is usable by the print head to print the three-dimensional object from the material comprising the fiber.   
     
     
         61 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising machine-executable code that, upon execution by one or more computer processors, implements a method for structurally analyzing a three-dimensional object, the method comprising:
 (a) using a model of the three-dimensional object, generating a print head tool path that is usable by a print head to print the three-dimensional object from a material comprising a fiber;   (b) determining a performance of the three-dimensional object based at least in part on (i) one or more properties of the material and (ii) a trajectory of at least one stiffness-contributing portion of the material determined based at least in part on the print head tool path, wherein the at least one stiffness-contributing portion corresponds to the fiber; and   (c) electronically outputting the performance of the three-dimensional object.   
     
     
         62 . A system for structurally analyzing a three-dimensional object, comprising:
 computer memory comprising machine-executable instructions stored therein for structurally analyzing the three-dimensional object;   one or more computer processors in electrical communication with the computer memory and programmed to execute the machine-executable instructions to:
 (i) use a model of the three-dimensional object to generate a print head tool path that is usable by a print head to print the three-dimensional object from a material comprising a fiber; 
 (ii) determine a performance of the three-dimensional object based at least in part on (a) one or more properties of the material and (b) a trajectory of at least one stiffness-contributing portion of the material determined based at least in part on the print head tool path, wherein the at least one stiffness-contributing portion corresponds to the fiber; and 
 (iii)electronically output the performance of the three-dimensional object. 
   
     
     
         63 . The system of  claim 62 , further comprising a print head that is configured to print the three-dimensional object along the print head tool path. 
     
     
         64 . A method for structurally analyzing and/or printing a part, comprising:
 (a) receiving, in computer memory, a model of the part for three-dimensional printing;   (b) determining a layout of voxels within the model;   (c) generating a mesh of analysis elements within the model;   (d) using one or more computer processors to determine a performance of the part based at least in part on intersections of the voxels and the analysis elements; and   (e) providing an electronic output of the performance of the part determined in (d).   
     
     
         65 . The method of  claim 64 , further comprising determining one or more properties for each of the voxels in the layout, wherein (d) comprises determining the performance of the part further based on the one or more properties of each of the voxels. 
     
     
         66 . The method of  claim 65 , further comprising determining one or more local properties of each of the analysis elements of the mesh based at least in part on the one or more properties of each of the voxels, wherein (d) comprises determining the performance of the part based at least in part on an aggregation of the one or more local properties of each of the analysis elements. 
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 64 , wherein determining the layout of the voxels comprises determining at least one of a number of the voxels, a shape of each of the voxels, a size of each of the voxels, a location of each of the voxels, and an orientation of each of the voxels. 
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 64 , further comprising receiving a predetermined performance of the part, wherein determining the layout of the voxels comprises determining the layout of the voxels based at least in part on the predetermined performance of the part. 
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 68 , further comprising (i) making a comparison of the performance of the part with the predetermined performance; and (ii) selectively generating a new layout of the voxels based at least in part on the comparison. 
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 64 , further comprising printing the part using the layout of voxels. 
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 70 , wherein the part is generated if the performance determined in (e) meets a reference performance. 
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 64 , wherein the voxels correspond to fibers in the part. 
     
     
         73 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising machine-executable code that, upon execution by one or more computer processors, implements a method for structurally analyzing and/or printing a part, the method comprising:
 (a) receiving, in computer memory, a model of the part for three-dimensional printing;   (b) determining a layout of voxels within the model;   (c) generating a mesh of analysis elements within the model;   (d) determining a performance of the part based at least in part on intersections of the voxels and the analysis elements; and   (e) providing an electronic output of the performance of the part determined in (d).   
     
     
         74 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 73 , wherein the method further comprises determining one or more properties for each of the voxels in the layout, and determining the performance of the part further based on the one or more properties of each of the voxels. 
     
     
         75 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 74 , wherein the method further comprises determining one or more local properties of each of the analysis elements of the mesh based at least in part on the one or more properties of each of the voxels, and determining the performance of the part based at least in part on an aggregation of the one or more local properties of each of the analysis elements. 
     
     
         76 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 73 , wherein the method further comprises receiving a predetermined performance of the part and use information for the part, wherein (b) comprises determining the layout of the voxels based at least in part on the predetermined performance of the part, and wherein (d) comprises determining at least one of a displacement field and a stress field of the part further based on the use information. 
     
     
         77 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 76 , wherein the method further comprises making a comparison of the performance of the part with the predetermined performance, and selectively generating a new layout of the voxels based at least in part on the comparison. 
     
     
         78 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 73 , wherein providing the electronic output of the performance of the part comprises displaying a graphical representation of the performance overlapped with the model of the part and the layout of the voxels. 
     
     
         79 . A system for structurally analyzing and/or printing a part, comprising:
 computer memory comprising computer-executable instructions stored therein for analyzing and/or printing the part; and   one or more computer processors in electrical communication with the computer memory and programmed to execute the computer-executable instructions to:   (a) receive a model of the part for three-dimensional printing;   (b) determine a layout of voxels within the model;   (c) generate a mesh of analysis elements within the model;   (d) determine a performance of the part based at least in part on intersections of the voxels and the analysis elements; and   (e) provide an electronic output of the performance of the part determined in (d).   
     
     
         80 . A system for structurally analyzing a part, comprising:
 a display;   a memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon; and   a processor in communication with the display and configured to execute the stored instructions to:
 receive a model of the part; 
 receive a predetermined performance of the part; 
 determine a layout of voxels within the model based at least in part on the predetermined performance; 
 determine one or more properties for each of the voxels in the layout; 
 generate a mesh of analysis elements within the model; 
 determine one or more local properties of each of the analysis elements of the mesh based at least in part on intersections of the voxels and the analysis elements and based at least in part on the one or more properties of each of the voxels; 
 receive use information for the part; 
 predict a performance of the part based at least in part on an aggregation of the one or more local properties of each of the analysis elements and based at least in part on the use information; 
 display the performance of the part overlapped with the model of the part and the layout of the voxels; 
 make a comparison of the performance of the part with the predetermined performance; and 
 selectively generate a new layout of the voxels based at least in part on the comparison.