# US 10,766,070 B2 · Self supporting in additive manufacturing > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,766,070 B2 - Document ID: US10766070B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/754,440 - Filed: 2016-08-26 - Published: 2018-08-23 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2015-08-28 - Assignees: Materialise N.V. - Applicants: Materialise N.V. - Inventors: Manuel Michiels; Gert Claes - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10766070B2 ## CPC - G06F 30/00: Computer-aided design [CAD] - G06F 30/10: Geometric CAD - B22F 10/12: by photopolymerisation, e.g. stereolithography [SLA] or digital light processing [DLP] - B22F 10/18: by mixing binder with metal in filament form, e.g. fused filament fabrication [FFF] - B22F 10/28: Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] - B22F 10/43: characterised by material - B29C 64/386: Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing - B33Y 50/00: Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing - G06F 2113/10: Additive manufacturing, e.g. three-dimensional [3D] printing - G06F 2119/18: Manufacturability analysis or optimisation for manufacturability - Y02P 10/25: Process efficiency - Y02P 90/02: Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING - Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS ## Abstract A system and method for modifying features in designs of objects to make them physically capable of being manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques and machines is provided, carrying out the following steps: Determine if one or more surfaces of the object have a surface angle below a threshold angle; designate one or more edges including a first edge, the first edge being between a first surface of the one or more surfaces and a second surface of the one or more surfaces, wherein the first surface has a surface angle below the threshold angle and the second surface has a surface angle equal to or above the threshold angle; and generate one or more additional surfaces along the one or more edges in the design file. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for modifying a design file of an object for additive manufacturing, comprising: a computer control system comprising one or more computers having a memory and a processor, the computer control system configured to: receive the design file of the object for additive manufacturing, the object comprising a plurality of surfaces and store the received design file in the computer memory; determine if one or more surfaces of the object are not self-supporting surfaces by determining that a surface angle of the surface is below a threshold angle, wherein the surface angle is calculated as the angle between a normal from a plane of the surface, and a normal from a build surface the object is to be built on; add one or more edges including a first edge in the design file, the first edge being between a first surface of the one or more surfaces and a second surface of the one or more surfaces, wherein the first surface has a surface angle below the threshold angle and the second surface has a surface angle equal to or above the threshold angle; generate one or more additional surfaces along the one or more edges in the design file, wherein the one or more additional surfaces are self-supporting, so that the design of the object is modified to be self-supporting; and store the additional surfaces in the design file. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the computer control system is further configured to modify a wall thickness of one or more portions of the object in the design file based on a minimum wall thickness threshold. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein adding the first edge comprises selecting the second surface based on the position of the first surface and a criterion. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the criterion comprises minimization of a volume which the surface is generated along the first edge adds to the object. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more additional surfaces are generated using a marching cubes algorithm. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the computer control system is further configured to determine if the first edge fits within the object, and if the edge does not fit within the object, the computer control system is configured to remove the first edge. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the computer control system is further configured to determine if the first edge is within a threshold distance of another edge, and if the first edge is not within the threshold distance of another edge, the computer control system is configured to remove the edge. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the computer control system is further configured to determine if the first edge is in an opposite direction as a plurality of neighboring edges, and if the first edge is in the opposite direction as the plurality of neighboring edges, the computer control system is configured to change the edge to be in the same direction as the plurality of neighboring edges. ### Claim 9 A method of modifying design of an object to be self-supporting in additive manufacturing, the method comprising: receiving a design file of the object for additive manufacturing, the object comprising a plurality of surfaces and storing the received design file in a computer memory; identifying one or more surfaces in the design file that are not self-supporting surfaces by determining that a surface has a surface angle below a threshold, wherein the surface angle is calculated as the angle between a normal from a plane of the surface, and a normal from a build surface the object is being built on; adding one or more edges including a first edge in the design file, the first edge being between a first surface of the one or more surfaces and a second surface of the object, wherein the first surface has a surface angle below the threshold angle and the second surface has a surface angle equal to or above the threshold angle; generating one or more additional surfaces along the one or more added edges in the design file, wherein the one or more additional surfaces are self-supporting, and storing the additional surfaces in the design file, so that the design of the object is modified to be self-supporting. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: identifying a feature in the stored design file that is not self-supporting; and modifying the design file by replacing the identified feature with a pre-defined self-supporting feature.