SOLID IDENTIFICATION GRID ENGINE FOR CALCULATING SUPPORT MATERIAL VOLUMES, AND METHODS OF USE

摘要

A method for calculating a support material volume, the method comprising generating a grid (112) of cells (114) for a tree data structure of a digital part (46), where the cells (114) define a plurality of cell arrays (120), and pinging the cells (114) of one of the cell arrays (120) until a cell (114) containing a subset of the tree data structure is reached or until each cell (114) in the cell array (120) is pinged, where if a cell (114) containing the subset of the tree data structure is reached, then designating the reached cell (114) and all remaining unpinged cells (114) in the cell array (120) as filled. The method also includes repeating the pinging step for each remaining cell array (120) to determine a total filled volume, and subtracting a volume of the digital part from the total filled volume to determine a support material volume.