Heterogeneous Objects Design and Manufacturing: Multi-materials Three Dimensional Printing System

Abstract

An integrated CAD/CAE/CAM framework for the design and manufacture of heterogeneous objects is presented. The primary goal of the research is to develop systematic methodologies to represent, visualize, and fabricate heterogeneous objects. The tetrahedral solid cell representation is used to establish the relationships among structures, materials and colors. A color STL based mapping with CMY mode is applied to visualize the CAD model of heterogeneous objects. The proposed integrated scheme has been implemented and tested in our Multi-materials Three Dimensional Printing (MTDP) system based on a micro droplets dispensing process.