Systems and methods of improving buildability in additive manufacturing

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method of analyzing a graphical representation of a three-dimensional lattice structure to identify non-self-supporting areas, the method comprising:

• detecting a line in the graph having an angle with respect to an XY plane that is less than a threshold angle, the line having a graph line length;
• determining one of a beam thickness of a neighboring graph line of the detected line and a connection thickness of a connection between the neighboring graph line and the detected line wherein the beam thickness is a distance between opposing sides of build material corresponding to the neighboring graph line in a plane including the detected line and a Z-axis, wherein the neighboring graph line intersects the detected line in the plane at a node, wherein the connection thickness corresponds to a distance between opposing sides of build material corresponding to the node in the plane;
• calculating, based on the graph line length and the one of the beam thickness and the connection thickness, an actual length of the detected line;
• determining, based on the actual length, if the detected line meets buildability constraints by determining if the actual length exceeds a maximum self-supporting beam length based on a type of build material;
• and
• at least one of:
• altering a depiction of the detected line in a user interface based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length;
• increasing the connection thickness to reduce the actual length based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length;
• adjusting a position of the node to reduce the actual length based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length;
• or
• increasing the beam thickness to reduce the actual length based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length.

A computing device for analyzing a graph representing a three-dimensional lattice structure to identify non-self-supporting areas, the computing device comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• detect a line in the graph having an angle with respect to an XY plane that is less than a threshold angle, the line having a graph line length;
• determine one of a beam thickness of a neighboring graph line of the detected line and a connection thickness of a connection between the neighboring graph line and the detected line, wherein the beam thickness is a distance between opposing sides of build material corresponding to the neighboring graph line in a plane including the detected line and a Z-axis, wherein the neighboring graph line intersects the detected line in the plane at a node, wherein the connection thickness corresponds to a distance between opposing sides of build material corresponding to the node in the plane;
• calculate, based on the graph line length and the one of the beam thickness and the connection thickness, an actual length of the detected line;
• determine, based on the actual length, if the detected line meets buildability constraints by determining if the actual length exceeds a maximum self-supporting beam length based on a type of build material;
• and
• at least one of:
• alter a depiction of the detected line in a user interface based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length;
• increase the connection thickness to reduce the actual length based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length;
• adjust a position of the node to reduce the actual length based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length;
• or
• increase the beam thickness to reduce the actual length based on the actual length exceeding the maximum self-supporting beam length.