Additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object

A method of manufacturing a metallic three-dimensional object comprising:

• receiving a solid model of the three-dimensional object;
• performing a geometric analysis of the solid model to identify a region of the three-dimensional object requiring a support structure, the solid model is composed of a mesh of polygons, the geometric analysis including an identification and collection of neighboring down-facing polygons to define the region of the three-dimensional object requiring a support structure;
• performing stress and warping analyses of the solid model at the region so identified, the stress and warping analysis including a production of stress vectors for the region of the three-dimensional object requiring a support structure;
• selecting a type of support structure to place at the region so identified, the type of support structure being selected based on the stress and warping analyses so performed including an analysis of a magnitude of stress computed from the stress vectors, the type of support structure selected based upon a comparison of the magnitude of the stress relative to a threshold;
• generating a shell of the three-dimensional object based on the solid model, and including the support structure at the region so identified and of the type so selected;
• and
• operating an additive manufacturing apparatus to fabricate the three-dimensional object with the support structure by selective melting layers of metal powder.

A computer-readable storage medium for manufacturing a metallic three-dimensional object, the computer-readable storage medium being non-transitory and having computer-readable program code portions stored therein that in response to execution by a processor cause an apparatus to at least:

• receive a solid model of the three-dimensional object;
• perform a geometric analysis of the solid model to identify a region of the three-dimensional object requiring a support structure, the solid model is composed of a mesh of polygons, the geometric analysis including an identification and collection of neighboring down-facing polygons to define the region of the three-dimensional object requiring a support structure;
• perform stress and warping analyses of the solid model at the region so identified, the stress and warping analysis including a production of stress vectors for the region of the three-dimensional object requiring a support structure;
• select a type of support structure to place at the region so identified, the type of support structure being selected based on the stress and warping analyses so performed including an analysis of a magnitude of stress computed from the stress vectors, the type of support structure selected based upon a comparison of the magnitude of the stress relative to a threshold;
• generate a shell of the three-dimensional object based on the solid model, and including the support structure at the region so identified and of the type so selected;
• and
• operate an additive manufacturing system to fabricate the three-dimensional object with the support structure by selective melting layers of metal powder.