Turning-angle optimized printing path of continuous carbon fiber for cellular structures

This paper presents an algorithm to compute optimized toolpaths to print thin-walled cellular structures with continuous carbon fiber. The input cellular structure is usually represented by a graph G, and the requirements to ensure high quality manufacturing include the coverage, continuity and sharp-turning prevention of fiber deposition. To satisfy these requirements, we develop a new algorithm to search a continuous path on G's dual graph, the corresponding path on which G minimizes the total energy of tuning angles and can visit all edges of G at least once and at most twice. With the help of a post-processing algorithm, a path determined on the dual graph can be converted into an overlap-reduced toolpath for printing continuous carbon fiber. Physical tests were conducted to demonstrate the advantage of printing paths generated by our algorithm. Up to 46% enhancement on the breaking force is observed during the tensile tests when using a similar amount of fibers.

Automated summary

This paper presents an algorithm for calculating optimized toolpaths to print thin-walled cellular structures with continuous carbon fiber. The algorithm searches for a continuous path on the dual graph of the input cellular structure to minimize energy and ensure the coverage, continuity, and avoidance of sharp turns during fiber deposition. Physical tests demonstrate a significant enhancement in breaking force, up to 46%, when using toolpaths generated by the algorithm with a similar amount of fibers.