Near-Constant Density Wireframe Meshes for 3D Printing

In fused deposition modeling (FDM) an object is usually constructed layer-by-layer. Using FDM 3D printers it is however also possible to extrude filament directly in 3D space. Using this technique, a wireframe version of an object can be created by directly printing the wireframe edges into 3D space. This way the print time can be reduced and significant material saving can be achieved. This paper presents a technique for wireframe mesh generation with application in 3D printing. The proposed technique transforms triangle meshes into polygonal meshes, from which the edges can be printed to create the wiremesh. Furthermore, the method is able to generate near-constant density of lines, even in regions parallel to the build platform.