Partition model into 3D-printable and no supporting parts

The printing object must fit into the printing working volume and overhangs require a disposable support structure to be added, which are two main problems in the 3D printing process. Existing algorithms cannot solve these two problems at the same time. To solve these problems, we present a model partition algorithm, dividing the model into the pyramidal fitting printing working volume, with the pyramidal having the shape which can be printed without a supporting structure. Firstly, we partition the model surface using the region growing method and analyze the region's normal vector to determine the candidate dividing directions. Secondly, we use the candidate dividing directions to generate candidate dividing planes in order to segment the model. If the divided sub-model is not a pyramidal,continue segmenting the sub-model by using the same method until all of the sub-models are pyramidal. The candidate dividing planes may generate multi-group division modes. Each division mode constructs a tree, the evaluation function is employed to appraise the dividing values and the beam search method is utilized to search the largest value tree in the solution space which is the optimal partition. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can divide the model into sub-models which needn't support structures and fit into the printing working volume.