KR102655339B1 - Apparatus and method for controlling 3D printer for multi-material 3D printing - Google Patents

Abstract

A 3D printer control device and method for multi-material 3D printing are disclosed. The 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing includes the steps of receiving target result information, slicing to calculate the movement of the printer nozzle to 3D print the shape of the target result using the input target result information, and A step of performing voxelation in which the shape of the target result is decomposed into voxel units and each decomposed voxel is mapped to each position on the multi-material filament to be output. According to the physical properties of each voxel generated by voxelization, the multi-material to be output Setting the material composition of the material filament, creating a printing schedule for the multi-material filament to be printed according to the material composition of the set multi-material filament, and controlling the multi-material filament to be printed according to the material composition and printing schedule. Includes.

Description

3D printer control device and method for multi-material 3D printing {Apparatus and method for controlling 3D printer for multi-material 3D printing}

The present invention relates to 3D printing, and more specifically, to a 3D printer control device and method for multi-material 3D printing.

3D printing is widely used in various industries as it can create digitally designed objects in three dimensions. As 3D printing technology gradually develops to enable printing using various materials simultaneously, it is reaching the stage of 3D printing the final product as well as simple prototyping.

Figure 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating 3D printing using a fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer.

Referring to Figure 1, the FDM 3D printing method is an output method that creates a three-dimensional sculpture by melting, extruding and laminating a thermoplastic material made of a thin filament through a nozzle. At this time, each nozzle can extrude one filament made of a single material. Due to technical issues, FDM printers are usually equipped with only 1 to 2 nozzles, resulting in the problem that the materials that can be printed simultaneously using the FDM method are limited to 1 or 2 types. These shortcomings can be said to be the biggest cause of lowering the industrial utilization of the FDM method.

Meanwhile, filament production processes are being developed to change the physical properties of filament, but most of the results are limited to developing filaments with a single physical property, and actual 3D printing results only have 1 or 2 physical properties due to the limitations of the FDM method. It remains at the level of producing output that includes

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2383350 (2022.04.01)

The present invention uses an existing FDM (Fused deposition modeling) 3D printer to 3D print a multi-material filament made of multiple materials applied to the target result, and 3D prints the target result using the 3D printed multi-material filament. To provide a 3D printer control device and method for multi-material 3D printing.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing performed by a 3D printer control device is disclosed.

A 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention includes receiving target result information, using the input target result information, of a printer nozzle for 3D printing the shape of the target result. Slicing to calculate movement and voxelization to decompose the shape of the target result into voxels and map each decomposed voxel to each position on the multi-material filament to be output, the voxelization generated by the voxelization According to the physical properties of each voxel, setting the material composition of the multi-material filament to be output, generating a printing schedule of the multi-material filament to be output according to the material composition of the set multi-material filament, and the material composition and the It includes controlling the multi-material filament to be printed according to a printing schedule.

The target result information includes 3D shape information and physical property information for each part of the target result.

In the step of setting the material composition, the multi-material filament to be output is composed of a plurality of layers representing the material composition.

In the step of creating the printing schedule, using the layer configuration, a plurality of groups are created by grouping layers with the same material sequentially from the lower layer to the upper layer to prevent the generation of a layer that covers another layer, and the generated plurality of groups Create a printing schedule to print sequentially.

The physical properties include color, mechanical tensile and bending properties, and electrical conductivity.

The 3D printer control method further includes controlling the target result to be output using the output multi-material filament.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing is disclosed.

A 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a memory for storing a command and a processor for executing the command, wherein the command includes the steps of receiving target result information, the input Using target result information, slicing calculates the movement of the printer nozzle to 3D print the shape of the target result, and decomposes the shape of the target result into voxels and prints each decomposed voxel on a multi-material filament. Performing voxelization for mapping to each location, setting the material composition of the multi-material filament to be output according to the physical properties of each voxel generated by the voxelization, and the material composition of the set multi-material filament A 3D printer control method is performed, including generating a printing schedule for the multi-material filament to be output and controlling the multi-material filament to be output according to the material configuration and the printing schedule.

A 3D printer control device and method for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention uses an existing FDM (fused deposition modeling) 3D printer to 3D print a multi-material filament made of a plurality of materials applied to a target result. By printing and 3D printing the target result using the 3D printed multi-material filament, the target result with various physical properties can be produced, greatly improving the usability of the existing widely distributed FDM 3D printer.

Figure 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating 3D printing using a fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer.
Figure 2 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing performed by a 3D printer control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 3 to 8 are diagrams for explaining a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention of FIG. 2.
Figure 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As used herein, singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as “consists of” or “comprises” should not be construed as necessarily including all of the various components or steps described in the specification, and some of the components or steps may be included in the specification. It may not be included, or it should be interpreted as including additional components or steps. In addition, terms such as "... unit" and "module" used in the specification refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software, or as a combination of hardware and software. .

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 2 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing performed by a 3D printer control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figures 3 to 8 are the embodiment of the present invention in Figure 2. This is a drawing to explain the 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing. Hereinafter, a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described, focusing on FIG. 2, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8.

In step S210, the 3D printer control device receives target result information, uses the input target result information to calculate the movement of the printer nozzle to 3D print the shape of the target result, and calculates the shape of the target result. Voxelization is performed by decomposing into voxel units and mapping each decomposed voxel to each position on the multi-material filament to be output. Here, the target result information may include 3D shape information and physical property information for each part of the target result.

That is, the 3D printer control device can slice the shape of the target result, calculate the movement path, speed, and filament requirement of the printer nozzle, and decompose the shape of the target result into individual lines representing the printing path.

Figure 3 shows the overall process of multi-material filament 3D printing and multi-material 3D printing using the same performed according to a 3D printer control method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 shows a 3D printer control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. represents the concept of

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the resolution set on the filament may be set to 2 mm or more in the longitudinal direction of the filament in consideration of the material transition section. Therefore, a voxel that can have unique physical properties can be defined as a set of a plurality of unit lines bound so that the longitudinal amount of filament required to generate the voxel is greater than the resolution value. Each voxel can be mapped to a specific point on the filament according to the printing order.

In step S220, the 3D printer control device creates a design image of the multi-material filament to be printed by setting the material composition of the multi-material filament to be printed according to the physical properties of each voxel generated by voxelization. Here, the design image may be displayed as multiple layers representing the material composition with respect to the longitudinal and transverse sections of the multi-material filament.

That is, the 3D printer control device can determine the physical properties of each voxel using the physical property information for each part of the target result and set the material composition on the filament to implement the determined physical properties of each voxel. Here, applicable physical properties may include color, mechanical tensile and bending properties, electrical conductivity, etc.

Factors that determine physical properties include the type of raw material, mixing ratio {ϕ}, and interdigitated layer arrangement expressed as a homogeneity parameter (η). In addition, factors such as printer nozzle temperature, bed temperature, and printing speed can be set uniformly.

The various raw materials to be placed on the multi-material filament are mixed during the process of printing the target result. At this time, the mechanism that promotes mixing is diffusion between polymers that occurs during the process of melting and injecting multi-material filaments.

Figure 5 shows an example of a process in which a 3D printed multi-material filament is melt-injected in an FDM 3D printer.

Referring to Figure 5, the diffusion distance Δx is determined by the formula explaining Fickian diffusion: It can be expressed as follows, where D and t represent the diffusion constant and the time at which the multi-material filament is melt-injected, respectively. Under given FDM printing conditions, the diffusion distance is significantly small compared to the diameter d _f of the molten extrudate, leaving the materials locally separated. Accordingly, in the present invention, mixing between raw materials can be promoted by designing the multi-material filament in a direction to increase the material interface where diffusion occurs. Through a cross-layer arrangement in which different material layers are alternately arranged, a uniform mixture can be obtained by greatly increasing the area of the material interface even under the same mixing ratio. This design method, uniformity variable It can be expressed by, where W _i represents the interfacial width between different material layers, and d _f represents the diameter of the multi-material filament.

The physical properties of the target result tend to be proportional to the mixing ratio between the raw materials. For example, when mixing a high-stiffness material and a flexible material, increasing the proportion of the flexible material reduces the bending stiffness of the target result. Also, when two primary colors are mixed, a gradient between the two primary colors can be created depending on the mixing ratio. Expanding on this, full color printing can be implemented by generating more than 36 colors through filament printing that mixes four CMYW colors.

At this time, the uniformity variable promotes uniform mixing between raw materials, preventing local peeling of the raw materials on the printed result and producing desired physical properties. For example, when tensing a specimen with the same mixing ratio of high-stiffness material and flexible material at 50:50, the specimen with a low uniformity parameter experiences delamination of the high-stiffness material at a low strain rate, while the specimen with a high uniformity parameter experiences delamination of the high-stiffness material at a low strain rate. It maintains the mixed state even at a strain rate of 10 times or more. Physical properties experimentally measured according to various factor presets are shown in Figures 6 and 7. Multi-material filaments can be designed by selecting one that is close to the desired properties among the given presets or by manually setting each variable.

For example, Figure 4 shows the process of creating 13 color gradients by gradually changing the mixing ratio of two raw materials (yellow and cyan). Here, the uniformity variable was set to 2, excluding the raw materials, because, as can be seen in commonly used coloring techniques, new color perception can be easily created even when two colors are locally separated.

In step S230, the 3D printer control device generates a printing schedule for the multi-material filament according to the material composition of the set multi-material filament.

In other words, the 3D printer control device uses the design image to create a plurality of groups by grouping layers with the same material sequentially from the lower layer to the upper layer to prevent the generation of layers that cover other layers, and sequentially groups the created plurality of groups. You can create a printing schedule for printing.

In general, the printing schedule can be set to minimize the number of times the raw material (filament) is replaced. Because 3D printers stack materials vertically, if layers of different materials intersect vertically, the lower layer must be printed first and then the upper layer. To this end, most 3D printers replace materials in all layers, which greatly increases the work requirements of 3D printing using multiple materials.

In order to alleviate this problem, the 3D printer control device according to an embodiment of the present invention uses a design image of the multi-material filament to print a plurality of multi-material filaments made of a single material that can be printed at once without the need for material replacement. Divide into groups. At this time, they may be grouped based on the layer where vertical intersection between sections where heterogeneous materials are placed occurs.

For example, assume an arbitrary raw material layer L _m,n . Here, m and n represent the raw material and layer number on the multi-material filament, respectively. The grouping process consists of a specific material k and starts from the material layer L _k,n that is not included in the group. If L _k,n+1 exists and does not intersect L _m≠k,n , add L _k,n+1 to the group. If intersection occurs, L _m≠k,n must be printed first before printing L _k,n+1 , so the grouping process is terminated and a new group is created by replacing the material. This process is repeated until an intersecting section appears in the next layer or until there is no homogeneous material in the layer above. Through this process, a multi-layer, single-material printing group is formed. This single-material printing group can be printed at once without material replacement. For the next material, the same decision process is repeated starting from the first layer to form a second printing group. This work is performed throughout the entire length of the multi-material filament.

So, three groups (G ₁ , G ₂ , G ₃ ) as shown in FIG. 4 can be created.

In step S240, the 3D printer control device controls the multi-material filament to be output according to the material composition and printing schedule of the multi-material filament.

In step S250, the 3D printer control device controls the output of the target result using the output multi-material filament.

For example, the 3D printer control device may control the first fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer to output a multi-material filament and the second FDM 3D printer to output a target result using the output multi-material filament.

Figure 8 shows an example of full-color printing using 3D printed multi-material filament. Referring to Figure 8, 36 colors were 3D printed by varying the mixing ratio of the four primary color materials. The number of colors that can be obtained in this way is not limited, and countless colors can be created by adjusting the mixing ratio more precisely or adding other primary colors. Full-color 3D printing was only possible with a small number of expensive equipment and materials, and implementing it using an inexpensive FDM method has great commercial significance.

Figure 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a processor 10, a memory 20, a communication unit 30, and an interface unit 40.

The processor 10 may be a CPU or a semiconductor device that executes processing instructions stored in the memory 20.

Memory 20 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. For example, memory 20 may include ROM, RAM, etc.

For example, the memory 20 may store commands for performing a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The communication unit 30 is a means for transmitting and receiving data with other devices through a communication network.

The interface unit 40 may include a network interface and a user interface for accessing the network.

Meanwhile, the components of the above-described embodiment can be easily understood from a process perspective. In other words, each component can be understood as a separate process. Additionally, the processes of the above-described embodiments can be easily understood from the perspective of the components of the device.

Additionally, the technical contents described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., singly or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiments or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic media such as floptical disks. -Includes optical media (magneto-optical media) and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. Examples of program instructions include machine language code, such as that produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc. A hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications, changes, and additions within the spirit and scope of the present invention, and such modifications, changes, and additions will be possible. should be regarded as falling within the scope of the patent claims below.

10: processor
20: memory
30: Department of Communications
40: interface part

Claims (7)

In a 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing performed by a 3D printer control device,
Receiving target result information including 3D shape information and physical property information for each part of the target result;
Using the input target result information, slicing calculates the movement of the printer nozzle for 3D printing the shape of the target result, decomposes the shape of the target result into voxels, and outputs each decomposed voxel. Performing voxelation to map each location on the multi-material filament;
Setting the material composition of the multi-material filament to be output according to the physical properties of each voxel generated by the voxelization;
generating a printing schedule for the multi-material filament to be output according to the set material composition of the multi-material filament;
Controlling the multi-material filament to be printed to be printed according to the material composition and the printing schedule; and
Including controlling the target result to be output using the output multi-material filament,
The step of setting the material composition is,
Setting the material configuration to implement the physical properties of each voxel according to the physical property information for each part,
Consisting of a plurality of layers representing the material composition with respect to the longitudinal and transverse sections of the multi-material filament to be output,
The physical properties include color, mechanical tensile and bending properties, and electrical conductivity,
The step of creating the printing schedule is,
Using the above layer configuration, multiple groups are created by grouping layers with the same material sequentially from the lower layer to the upper layer to prevent layers that cover other layers, and a printing schedule is created to sequentially print the created multiple groups. do,
The step of controlling so that the multi-material filament to be output is output and the step of controlling so that the target result is output,
A 3D printer control method for multi-material 3D printing, characterized in that controlling a first 3D printer to output the multi-material filament and controlling a second 3D printer to output a target result using the output multi-material filament.
delete delete delete delete delete In a 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing,
Memory for storing instructions; and
Including a processor that executes the instructions,
The command is:
Receiving target result information including 3D shape information and physical property information for each part of the target result;
Using the input target result information, slicing calculates the movement of the printer nozzle for 3D printing the shape of the target result, decomposes the shape of the target result into voxels, and outputs each decomposed voxel. Performing voxelation to map each location on the multi-material filament;
Setting the material composition of the multi-material filament to be output according to the physical properties of each voxel generated by the voxelization;
Generating a printing schedule for the multi-material filament to be output according to the material composition of the set multi-material filament;
Controlling the multi-material filament to be printed to be printed according to the material composition and the printing schedule; and
Performing a 3D printer control method including the step of controlling the target result to be output using the output multi-material filament,
The step of setting the material composition is,
Setting the material configuration to implement the physical properties of each voxel according to the physical property information for each part,
Consisting of a plurality of layers representing the material composition with respect to the longitudinal and transverse sections of the multi-material filament to be output,
The physical properties include color, mechanical tensile and bending properties, and electrical conductivity,
The step of creating the printing schedule is,
Using the above layer configuration, multiple groups are created by grouping layers with the same material sequentially from the lower layer to the upper layer to prevent layers that cover other layers, and a printing schedule is created to sequentially print the created multiple groups. do,
The step of controlling so that the multi-material filament to be output is output and the step of controlling so that the target result is output,
A 3D printer control device for multi-material 3D printing, characterized in that controlling a first 3D printer to output the multi-material filament and controlling a second 3D printer to output a target result using the output multi-material filament.

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