A novel strategy for multi-part production in additive manufacturing

In this paper, a novel strategy for multi-part additive manufacturing (AM) production is proposed in order to reduce the total fabrication time. Traditionally, in a multi-part production process, parts are positioned on the print platform and then are sliced into layers from the bottom to the top. In this manner, the time for moving the print nozzle from one part to another in each layer can be excessive. In fact, it is possible to fabricate some more layers (instead of one layer) in the same part first, before moving to another part to start printing. Based on this idea, parts need to be positioned on the platform optimally. The best positions are determined by considering and calculating the total fabrication time. An eight-step novel strategy is proposed in this paper to obtain parts’ optimal positions and nozzle travel paths. A case study was carried out to demonstrate that this strategy can save fabrication time for multi-part manufacturing in AM, compared with normal multi-part fabrication method.