# Toolpath Generation for High Density Spatial Fiber Printing Guided by Principal Stresses

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.16851 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.16851/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 22 Oct 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Neural Co-Optimization of Structural Topology, Manufacturable Layers, and Path Orientations for Fiber-Reinforced Composites](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.03779/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

While multi-axis 3D printing can align continuous fibers along principal stresses in continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composites to enhance mechanical strength, existing methods have difficulty generating toolpaths with high fiber coverage. This is mainly due to the orientation consistency constraints imposed by vector-field-based methods and the turbulent stress fields around stress concentration regions. This paper addresses these challenges by introducing a 2-RoSy representation for computing the direction field, which is then converted into a periodic scalar field to generate partial iso-curves for fiber toolpaths with nearly equal hatching distance. To improve fiber coverage in stress-concentrated regions, such as around holes, we extend the quaternion-based method for curved slicing by incorporating winding compatibility considerations. Our proposed method can achieve toolpaths coverage between 87.5% and 90.6% by continuous fibers with 1.1mm width. Models fabricated using our toolpaths show up to 84.6% improvement in failure load and 54.4% increase in stiffness when compared to the results obtained from multi-axis 3D printing with sparser fibers.