Adaptive Slicing with Sloping Layer Surfaces

An adaptive slicing procedure for improving the geometric accuracy of layered manufacturing techniques is presented. Unlike previous procedures, the present method uses layers with sloping boundary surfaces that closely match the shape of the required surface. This greatly reduces the stair case effect which is characteristic of layered components with square edges. Two measures of error are considered and a method of predicting these measures for sloping layer surfaces is outlined. To cater for different manufacturing requirements, a method to produce parts with either an inside or outside tolerance, or a combination of both, is presented. Finally, some problems associated with surface joins, vertices, and inflection points are considered and some solutions proposed.