Research on the method of reducing 3D printing material consumption based on the intelligent optimization of the model structure

This paper proposes a method for reducing the material consumption in 3D printing based on the intelligent optimization of the model structure. Based on the existing quadric error metric (QEM) mesh model simplification algorithm, a geometric constraint judgment condition is proposed to be combined for selectively simplifying vertex pairs, ensuring that the folded vertices are always simplified towards the inside of the model, thus achieving a continuous decrease in volume during the simplification process. Moreover, for the working surfaces or feature regions of the model that cannot be simplified, an intelligent interactive QEM simplification method is introduced. It is proposed to simplify some regions of the model to reduce the material consumption in 3D printing. While achieving the goal of reducing material consumption in 3D printing, this method effectively avoids the damage to the characteristics of the working surface and the distortion of the feature parts of the model, thereby maintaining the original physical properties of the model. Finally, the effectiveness of this method is verified by calculating the volume of the model before and after simplification.