Build time estimator for determining optimal part orientation

The build time of a part is one of the most important objective functions used for optimization problems such as determining the optimum part orientation of the part in rapid prototyping (RP) systems. The accurate build time calculation algorithms are used generally for job scheduling and pricing; however, applying the precise algorithms is usually time-consuming and much solution time is taken to compute the build time, so this is not an effective method for optimization problems. Conventional estimating methods are also applicable for constant layer slicing and do not have sufficient accuracy to be used in optimization problems. This paper presents a new build time estimator algorithm to estimate the build time of the part for use in optimization problems. The main feature of this estimating method is that it can be used for problems in which the adaptive slicing method is required. This algorithm effectively reduces the solution time to calculate the build time and so is an effective tool for solving part orientation optimization problems. The accuracy and the solution time of the proposed method are compared with the results of VISCAM RP software in several directions for a case study.