Voxel and stereolithographic digital design framework in additive manufacturing: effects in a PolyJet printing process and relevant digital solutions

PolyJet printing in Additive Manufacturing (AM) allows creating multi-material distributions and complex hierarchical structures. AM typically uses tessellated Stereolithography (STL) files as digital data to define geometric and associated materials; it may not always be suitable as a digital model for multi-material structures. Voxel printing is a recent technique for multi-material structures that allows software processing of digital STL; it precludes a need to define each material region as a unique geometric entity. The present paper compares voxel 3D printing and directly used STL printing digital design framework in PolyJet printing. A selected geometric configuration was printed using voxel and STL digital designs. The effect on the final printed part's quality and fidelity from these digital designs is compared. The variations in the voxel-based printed part's dimensions resulted from the printer's resolution differences in two planar directions. Voxel printing also had incorrect material depositions in multi-material parts due to rasterization errors. Corrective digital software solutions for dimensional and rasterization errors were developed for voxel designs and are found to be effective. Process–Property effects from voxel and STL digital designs based on a two-material composite system's tensile mechanical properties are studied. Present work provides digital solutions as an effective means to mitigate any limitations in voxel-based digital designs for additive manufacturing of multi-material complex structures. AM's success and quality depend on digital designs, a careful understanding of induced digital approximation effects, and effective cyber-based solutions.