Optimum part orientation in Rapid Prototyping using genetic algorithm

Part orientation is an important parameter in the planning of a Rapid Prototyping (RP) process as it directly governs productivity, part quality and cost of manufacturing. This paper reports the design and implementation of a system for obtaining optimum orientation of a part for RP. Developed in a modular fashion, the system comprises of functional modules for CAD model preprocessing, shelling (hollowing), part orientation and optimization. CAD part model in STL format is an input to the system. The oriented CAD model is sliced and hollowed with desired shell thickness. Genetic algorithm based strategy is used to obtain optimum orientation of the parts for RP process. The objective criteria for optimization is considered to be a weighted average of the performance measures such as build time, part quality and the material used in the hollowed model. The developed system has been tested with several case studies considering SLS process. (C) 2012 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.