A grasshopper-based path planning method for unsupported 3D printing of rotor models

Traditional three-dimensional (3D) printing technology generates objects and parts by depositing material layer by layer in the Z-axis direction. However, traditional printing processes require the creation of additional support structures when overhanging structures occur during the printing process. As a result, this technique requires additional material and increases the effective printing time. To overcome these problems, this paper this paper proposes a grasshopper based path planning method for supportless material printing. A series of surfaces are computed by extracting the outer contour lines of the model and the original model is sliced on the surfaces and the five-axis printing G-code generated from the slices will print the original model. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated and unsupported continuous path planning with surface layering is realized.