A method for generating large-scale implicit lattice structures for direct manufacturing

Abstract

The advent of additive manufacturing has significantly expanded the application potential of lattice structures in complex engineering scenarios. However, processing large-scale lattice meshes poses challenges due to the exponential growth in data volume and computation time. To address this issue, this study proposes a hierarchical voxel modeling method of implicit lattices (HVMIL) based on the Signed Distance Field (SDF). First, a GPU-accelerated SDF construction algorithm is proposed, capable of generating lattice structures with millions of elements within milliseconds, achieving unprecedented computational efficiency. Second, a hierarchical voxelization approach, optimized for additive manufacturing, effectively mitigates precision loss associated with STL conversion. Finally, the proposed method supports implicit modeling of various unit cells and field-driven applications, further broadening its applicability. Experimental validation demonstrates that our approach not only meets the stringent requirements of lattice structure applications but also establishes a novel paradigm for efficient modeling and high-precision fabrication in additive manufacturing.