Determining Optimal Print Orientation Using GPU-Accelerated Convex Hull Analysis

Abstract

Support material minimization is a critical consideration in additive manufacturing, as support structures increase material consumption, print time, and post-processing requirements. While numerous algorithms exist for determining optimal print orientations to minimize support volume, most are computationally expensive and rely on complex geometric operations. We present a novel approach that leverages GPU-accelerated convex hull analysis to rapidly determine optimal print orientations for minimizing support material requirements. Our method uses parallel processing to evaluate thousands of potential orientations simultaneously, achieving significant speedups over traditional approaches. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on a variety of 3D models, showing that our GPU-accelerated method can determine near-optimal orientations orders of magnitude faster than existing methods while maintaining comparable solution quality. The approach is particularly well-suited for batch processing of multiple parts and integration into automated manufacturing workflows.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{wade2023determining,
  title = {Determining Optimal Print Orientation Using GPU-Accelerated Convex Hull Analysis},
  author = {Wade, Charles and Crockett, Breanne and Borish, Michael and MacCurdy, Robert},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 8th ACM Symposium on Computational Fabrication},
  pages = {1--9},
  year = {2023},
  doi = {10.1145/3623264.3624447},
}