Non-planar slicing algorithm based on AABB and OBB bounding boxes for additive manufacturing

Abstract To solve the geometric computation and execution efficiency problems involved in surface layering in additive manufacturing technology, a non-planar slicing algorithm using the envelope box optimization computation is proposed. First, the base mesh is offset to obtain a set of curved cross-sections. Second, collision detection is performed on the axis-aligned bounding boxes of the triangular facets in the intersection space of the model and the oriented bounding boxes of the cross-section. Finally, intersection is computed only for the pairs of triangles that pass the detection. The proposed non-planar slicing algorithm is applied to the STL model of the part. The results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce redundant computations, speed up the running time by 99.8% compared with the direct slicing method, and greatly improve the efficiency of obtaining the closed contour.