Facet normal vector based adaptive slicing algorithm

Layer milling with uniform layer thickness is one of the main approaches for complex surfaces roughing and semi-finishing. But uneven thick material is left near the horizontal plane in some milling experiments. And the existed slicing methods can not properly solve this problem. A new slicing algorithm based on triangular facet normal vector and facet group area threshold is given. In the new algorithm, the facet normal vector is used to locate the candidate facets near which the possible uncut regions lie. Then the candidate facets are grouped with their height values and each group area is compared with a threshold. The larger is chosen as the interested groups and their height values are recorded. At last the slicing positions are determined with the height records and the given layer thickness and computation is committed. Experiments show that the new algorithm can solve the previous problem.