Digital Model to Predict Failures of Porous Structures in DLP-Based Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies benefit innovation and development as they enable designers and scientists to prototype models to evaluate their initial performance. A novel digital model to study the mechanical behavior of porous structures during their fabrication is presented. The digital light projection (DLP), a type of additive manufacturing, is still non-reliable for constructing porous structures because of the phenomena known as separation force. This separation force produces high mechanical stress on the structures during the building process. If the structure being constructed is porous, it usually is fragile, then the action of separation force results in breaking or distortion of the construct. The digital model consists of three modules: Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Slicing and Analysis/Report. As proof of concept, a TPMS-based structure was evaluated. The performance of the digital model enables possibilities to detect early failures avoiding waste of time and resources. The focus of the study is to report some practical instructions to design porous structures to obtain the maximum advantages when these constructs will build with DLP-based additive manufacturing.