Optimized infill in additive manufacturing of ceramic building components

Fused Deposition Modelling is an additive manufacturing process based on the principle of stacking layers of a given plastic through a numerically controlled nozzle mainly used for product prototyping in which the object is geometrically approximated by deposition of solid layers in the outer perimeters of a given mesh design and infilled with a constant interior geometrical pattern (infill). One of the principal affordances of Additive Manufacturing to design disciplines is that it enables cost efficient production of highly complex geometries and thus a greater freedom of design [1-5]. Recent studies of architecture and large scale production of structural components exhibit the time required for fabrication and the correct simulation of anisotropic mechanical properties among the main challenges for future development of the technique. This research assesses methods for introducing computational workflows that incorporate Finite Element Analysis and Topology Optimization in the design of functional components by locally differentiating the deposition of material specifically tailored for given application to increase the opportunities for optimization of the mechanical properties of an element (strength, stiffness and mass), which leads to improved performance while potentially reducing, fabrication time, material use, and therefore, environmental impact [6-10]. The proposed method uses results attained from finite element analysis (FEA) to engineer anisotropic ceramic building components by discretely determining infill geometries. In order to produce bespoke infill patterns, a computational method of data processing based on structures such as voxel, OcTree and Unstructured Mesh Grid geometrical rationalization is required [11-14]. We take variable resolution color sampling from contours, slices and thresholds from unstructured data sources in isovolumes and isosurfaces in order to locally differentiate the composition of ceramic tokens (density, mechanical properties and fidelity) based on different analyses such as associated stress values. Thus, examining design and fabrication methodologies of engineered anisotropy ceramic building components [15-17]. Respectively, the contribution of this research lies in the creation and corroboration of a method for the optimization of the infill structure of fused deposition modelled components for the fabrication of digitally designed complex surfaces assembled through discrete ceramic components. This paper presents and discusses the proposed method, and validates the generalizability, manufacturability and potential of automation of the methods through its ability to handle the manufacturing process constraints of intricate geometries at specific load conditions. The paper validates the method through testing FEA to FDM processed tokens and standard infill designs at different loading scenarios. Optimization processes that meet manufacturing constraints lead to further design democratization by automation enabled by human-machine collaboration practices.