An initial feasibility study into ray-based slicing for revolving thin-wall parts using a rotary 3D printer

Purpose With the development of 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM), curved layer fused deposition modeling (CLFDM) has been researched to cope with the flat layer AM inherited problems, such as stair-step error, anisotropy and the time-cost and material-cost problems from the supporting structures. As one type of CLFDM, cylindrical slicing has obtained some research attention. However, it can only deal with rotationally symmetrical parts with a circular slicing layer, limiting its application. This paper aims to propose a ray-based slicing method to increase the inter-layer strength of flat layer-based AM parts to deal with more general revolving parts. Design/methodology/approach Specifically, the detailed algorithm and implementation steps are given with several examples to enable readers to understand it better. The combination of ray-based slicing and helical path planning has been proposed to consider the nonuniform path spacing between the adjacent paths in the same curved layer. A brief introduction of the printing system is given, mainly including a 3D printer and the graphical user interface. Findings The preliminary experiments are successfully conducted to verify the feasibility and versatility of the proposed and improved slicing method for the revolving thin-wall parts based on a rotary 3D printer. Originality/value This research is early-stage work, and the authors are intended to explore the process and show the initial feasibility of ray-based slicing for revolving thin-wall parts using a rotary 3D printer. In general, this research provides a novel and feasible slicing method for multiaxis rotary 3D printers, making manufacturing revolving thin-wall and complex parts possible.