Internal channel network detections for 3D printing
A computer-aided design (CAD) system may support detection of internal channel networks for 3D printing and may include a CAD model access engine and a channel network detection engine. The CAD model access engine may access a CAD model of a physical object to be constructed through 3D printing. The channel network detection engine may detect an internal channel network included in the CAD model of the physical object, including by identifying channel openings along a surface of the CAD model that satisfy an opening size threshold and recursively identifying internal faces of the CAD model that form the internal channel network, wherein the internal faces are faces of the CAD model that are internal to the surface of the CAD model. The channel network detection engine may also perform a channel verification on the identified internal channel network to support the 3D printing of the physical object.
1. A method comprising:
by a computing system:
accessing a computer-aided design (CAD) model of a physical object to be constructed through 3D printing;
detecting an internal channel network included in the CAD model of the physical object, including by:
identifying channel openings along a surface of the CAD model that satisfy an opening size threshold; and
recursively identifying internal faces of the CAD model that form the internal channel network, wherein the internal faces are faces of the CAD model that are internal to the surface of the CAD model; and
performing a channel verification on the detected internal channel network to support the 3D printing of the physical object, including by:
projecting a plane onto a particular set of adjacent internal faces;
determining an inscribed shape on the projected plane along the adjacent internal faces of the particular set; and
determining a channel diameter from the inscribed shape, the channel diameter used for a diameter-to-length verification for 3D printing of the physical object, including by:
recalibrating the projected plane using a center point of the inscribed shape and a center point of for a previously determined set of adjacent internal faces; and
determining the channel diameter from a recalibrated shape inscribed on the recalibrated projected plane along the adjacent internal faces of the particular set.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the internal channel network further includes identifying different branches in the internal channel network.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the CAD model comprises accessing a surface mesh of the physical object that is comprised of multiple mesh faces that form the CAD model; and
wherein recursively identifying the internal faces of the CAD model to form the internal channel network comprises:
identifying an initial set of internal mesh faces of the CAD model that form an identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model; and
recursively identifying sets of adjacent internal mesh faces until another identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model is reached.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein detecting the internal channel network included in the CAD model further comprises:
determining a particular set of adjacent internal mesh faces includes at least two loops of mesh faces; and
identifying multiple branches in the internal channel network responsive to such a determination.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein recursively identifying the internal faces of the CAD model to form the internal channel network comprises:
identifying an initial set of internal topological faces of the CAD model that form an identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model, the topological faces defined by a topology of the CAD model; and
recursively identifying sets of adjacent internal topological faces until another identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model is reached.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the internal channel network included in the CAD model further includes:
differentiating between branches in the internal channel network through identification of free edges that belong to internal topological faces of a particular branch, but are not adjacent to any other internal topological faces of the particular branch.
7. A system comprising:
a computer-aided design (CAD) model access engine configured to access a CAD model of a physical object to be constructed through 3D printing; and a channel network detection engine configured to: detect an internal channel network included in the CAD model of the physical object, including by:
identifying channel openings along a surface of the CAD model that satisfy an opening size threshold; and
recursively identifying internal faces of the CAD model that form the internal channel network, wherein the internal faces are faces of the CAD model that are internal to the surface of the CAD model; and
perform a channel verification on the detected internal channel network to support the 3D printing of the physical object, including by:
projecting a plane onto a particular set of adjacent internal faces;
determining an inscribed shape on the projected plane along the adjacent internal faces of the particular set; and
determining a channel diameter from the inscribed shape, the channel diameter used for a diameter-to-length verification for 3D printing of the physical object, including by:
recalibrating the projected plane using a center point of the inscribed shape and a center point of for a previously determined set of adjacent internal faces; and
determining the channel diameter from a recalibrated shape inscribed on the recalibrated projected plane along the adjacent internal faces of the particular set.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the CAD model access engine is configured to accessing a surface mesh of the physical object that is comprised of multiple mesh faces that form the CAD model; and
wherein the channel network detection engine is configured to recursively identify the internal faces of the CAD model to form the internal channel network by:
identifying an initial set of internal mesh faces of the CAD model that form an identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model; and
recursively identifying sets of adjacent internal mesh faces until another identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model is reached.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the channel network detection engine is configured to detect the internal channel network included in the CAD model further by:
determining a particular set of adjacent internal mesh faces includes at least two loops of mesh faces; and
identifying multiple branches in the internal channel network responsive to such a determination.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the channel network detection engine is configured to recursively identify the internal faces of the CAD model to form the internal channel network by:
identifying an initial set of internal topological faces of the CAD model that form an identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model, the topological faces defined by a topology of the CAD model; and
recursively identifying sets of adjacent internal topological faces until another identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model is reached.
11. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a system to:
access a computer-aided design (CAD) model of a physical object to be constructed through 3D printing, including by access a surface mesh of the physical object that is comprised of multiple mesh faces that form the CAD model;
detect an internal channel network included in the CAD model of the physical object, including by:
identifying channel openings along a surface of the CAD model that satisfy an opening size threshold; and
recursively identifying internal faces of the CAD model that form the internal channel network, wherein the internal faces are faces of the CAD model that are internal to the surface of the CAD model, and including by:
identifying an initial set of internal mesh faces of the CAD model that form an identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model; and
recursively identifying sets of adjacent internal mesh faces until another identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model is reached; and
perform a channel verification on the detected internal channel network to support the 3D printing of the physical object by:
projecting a plane onto a particular set of adjacent internal mesh faces;
determining an inscribed shape on the projected plane along the adjacent internal mesh faces of the particular set; and
determining a channel diameter from the inscribed shape, the channel diameter used for a diameter-to-length verification for 3D printing of the physical object, including by:
recalibrating the projected plane using a center point of the inscribed shape and a center point of for a previously determined set of adjacent internal faces; and
determining the channel diameter from a recalibrated shape inscribed on the recalibrated projected plane along the adjacent internal faces of the particular set.
12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system:
Access a surface mesh of the physical object that is comprised of multiple mesh faces that form the CAD model; and
recursively identify the internal faces of the CAD model to form the internal channel network by:
identifying an initial set of internal mesh faces of the CAD model that form an identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model; and
recursively identifying sets of adjacent internal mesh faces until another identified channel opening along the surface of the CAD model is reached.