Abstract: A method of optimizing mechanical design for additive manufacturing, comprising: acquiring a digital file containing a description of a mechanical assembly, the assembly includes a plurality of mechanical parts; scanning the digital file to identify mechanical connections between adjacent of the plurality of mechanical parts; identifying a full cluster of connected mechanical parts based on the scanning, the connected mechanical parts are designed to be manufactured from similar materials; and identifying a usable cluster of connected mechanical parts to be combined into one mechanical part, the usable cluster is a sub-cluster of the full cluster, by iteratively: estimating eligibility of the mechanical parts in a current cluster to be manufactured as one mechanical part by additive manufacturing, the current cluster is a sub-cluster of the full cluster; and removing at least one mechanical part from the current cluster.

Abstract: A method of optimizing mechanical design for additive manufacturing, comprising: acquiring a digital file containing a description of a mechanical assembly, the assembly includes a plurality of mechanical parts; scanning the digital file to identify mechanical connections between adjacent of the plurality of mechanical parts; identifying a full cluster of connected mechanical parts based on the scanning, the connected mechanical parts are designed to be manufactured from similar materials; and identifying a usable cluster of connected mechanical parts to be combined into one mechanical part, the usable cluster is a sub-cluster of the full cluster, by iteratively: estimating eligibility of the mechanical parts in a current cluster to be manufactured as one mechanical part by additive manufacturing, the current cluster is a sub-cluster of the full cluster; and removing at least one mechanical part from the current cluster.