Point inversion and projection for NURBS curve and surface: control polygon approach
Computer Aided Geometric Design
Integrating cross-sectional imaging based reverse engineering with rapid prototyping
Computers in Industry
Mathematical and Computer Modelling: An International Journal
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This paper presents an adaptive approach to improve the process planning of Rapid Prototyping/Manufacturing (RP/M) for complex product models such as biomedical models. Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS)-based curves were introduced to represent the boundary contours of the sliced layers in RP/M to maintain the geometrical accuracy of the original models. A mixed tool-path generation algorithm was then developed to generate contour tool-paths along the boundary and offset curves of each sliced layer to preserve geometrical accuracy, and zigzag tool-paths for the internal area of the layer to simplify computing processes and speed up fabrication. In addition, based on the developed build time and geometrical accuracy analysis models, adaptive algorithms were designed to generate an adaptive speed of the RP/M nozzle/print head for the contour tool-paths to address the geometrical characteristics of each layer, and to identify the best slope degree of the zigzag tool-paths towards achieving the minimum build time. Five case studies of complex biomedical models were used to verify and demonstrate the improved performance of the approach in terms of processing effectiveness and geometrical accuracy.