ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY-BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH SUPPORT STRUCTURE AND SUPPORT STRUCTURE REMOVAL

摘要

A method (200, 500) of printing a part (306) using an additive manufacturing system (10) includes identifying a part or parts (306) to print and orienting a digital representation of the part(s) (306)in a build volume. A digital representation of porous support structures (404) for the part(s) (306) is generated to form a digital representation of a part block (300) of the part(s) (306) to be printed. In the part block (300), a porosity of the support structure (404) increases as a distance from an outer surface of the part (306) increases within the print volume. The digital representation of the part block (300), including the part(s) (306)and porous support structures (404), is sliced for printing.