getApproximateSupportArea

pyslm.support.getApproximateSupportArea(part, overhangAngle, projected=False)

The support area is a metric of the total area of support surfaces, including the flattened or projected area.

Note

This is an approximation that does not account for any self-intersections. It does not use ray queries to project the distance towards the mesh, therefore is more useful estimating the overall cost of the support structures, during initial support optimisation.

Parameters:

• part (Part) – The part to analyse

• overhangAngle (float) – The overhang angle in degrees

• projected (bool) – If True, the projected area is used

Return type:

float

Returns:

The approximate cost function