New SVG image export based on exact CAD data

CoreTechnologie — a leading global provider of CAD Converter, CAD Viewer and additive manufacturing (AM) software — has extended its 4D_Additive 3-D printing offering with a new ‘SVG image export for vector graphics’. The new tool generates ‘a high level of precision and quality for 3-D printed parts’; until now, the preparation of 3-D models was limited to STL models only, due to the limitations of existing software tools.

However, with the new function, vector graphics can be exported, satisfying the higher demands on the accuracy and traceability of the production process of additive manufacturing for series production results (a basic prerequisite for this is the direct use of CAD models without the use of imprecise STL formats). Furthermore, the 4D_Additive software offers, for the first time, the ability to generate exact cutting curves of the material layers as spline curves instead of creating these from many thousands of smallest straight lines.

To print a 3-D model, it must be divided into layers in a so-called slicing process, of which there are generally there are two types: pixel files and vector graphic files. Pixel files — such as PNG, JPEG or BMP images — consist of pixels that represent the image in two dimensions, but the resolution of these images can result in have blurred edges that result in surface defects in the printed part.

The latest version of the 4D_Additive slicer module creates vector graphic files to represent the geometry in detail — regardless of the size of the part. Vector files thus offer better accuracy and higher print quality than pixel files. The SVG format (scalable vector graphics) is currently the most common vector format in which the layers from the 4D_Additive tool are saved — and the 4D_Additive build processor can generate exact slicing curves for other printing processes such as SLS and SLM.