Systems, methods, and media for controlling support structures and build orientation in manufacturing

A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for additive manufacturing a part using a three dimensional (3D) printing system, the 3D printing system including a print head and a build plate, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of physical constraints associated with the part;
• optimizing a build orientation of the part to identify an optimized build orientation b* for the part with respect to a design domain defined by the physical constraints based on the plurality of physical constraints, and a plurality of design constraints using at least one variable associated with build orientation as an optimization variable, wherein the at least one variable associated with build orientation comprises Θ,
• wherein for 2D parts Θ corresponds to an angle θ with respect to an axis of the design domain, and build orientation is defined as b=(cos θ, sin θ) 0≤θ≤2π;
• and
• wherein for 3D parts Θ corresponds to angles ϕ with respect to a first axis of the design domain, and with respect to a second axis of the design domain, and build orientation is defined as b=(sin ϕ cos ψ, sin ϕ sin ψ, cos ϕ) 0≤ϕ≤π, 0≤ψ≤2π, and the plurality of design constraints comprising:
• an initial build orientation b0;
• and
• a critical surface slope angle α;
• and
• generating a part model based on the optimized build orientation b*.

A system for additive manufacturing a part, the system comprising:

• a print head;
• a build plate,
• a memory;
• and
• at least one hardware processor that is programmed to:
• receive a plurality of physical constraints associated with the part;
• optimize a build orientation of the part to identify an optimized build orientation b* for the part with respect to a design domain defined by the physical constraints based on the plurality of physical constraints, and a plurality of design constraints using at least one variable associated with build orientation as an optimization variable, wherein the at least one variable associated with build orientation comprises Θ,
• wherein for 2D parts Θ corresponds to an angle θ with respect to an axis of the design domain, and build orientation is defined as b=(cos θ, sin θ) 0≤θ≤2π;
• and
• wherein for 3D parts Θ corresponds to angles θ with respect to a first axis of the design domain, and ψ with respect to a second axis of the design domain, and build orientation is defined as b=(sin ϕ cos ψ, sin ϕ sin ψ, cos ϕ) 0≤ϕ≤π, 0≤ψ≤2π, and the plurality of design constraints comprising:
• an initial build orientation b0;
• a critical surface slope angle α;
• and
• generate a part model based on the optimized build orientation b*;
• and
• cause the part model to be stored in the memory.