Multiresolution Hybrid Mesh for Rapid Prototyping

Stereolithography (STL) is the prevailing technology in rapid prototyping (RP) applications. The STL process involves mesh triangulation of a sculptured object from a CAD model and then the extraction of cross-sections from the mesh model. In most current systems, the resulting model suffers from topological problems, such as degenerate facets, undesired holes, or flipped normals, which lead to invalid cross-sections that cannot be manufactured as layers. This paper proposes a hybrid system that takes advantage of structured and unstructured mesh geometry in order to optimise the RP process and make it more robust and accurate. The system has been developed as part of a joint project between the 3S Laboratory at Grenoble University, France and the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and CAD at the Technion, Israel. Within the system, a constrained mesh simplification model (3S Lab) is integrated with a multilevel model (CAD Lab).