WE CLAIM
1. A system for fabricating a component, said system comprising:
an additive manufacturing device configured to fabricate a first component by sequentially forming a plurality of superposed layers based upon a nominal digital representation of a second component, wherein the nominal digital representation comprises a plurality of nominal digital two-dimensional cross-sections, each nominal digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to a layer of the first component; and
a computing device coupled to said additive manufacturing device, said computing device comprising a memory device configured to store the nominal digital representation of the second component, said computing device further comprising a processor, wherein for an ith layer of the first component said processor is configured to:
(a) generate a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer;
(b) apply the cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer to the nominal digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer to create an intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer;
(c) determine a local compensation transformation for the ith layer;
(d) apply the local compensation transformation for the ith layer to the intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer to create a compensated digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer; and

(e) perform (a) through (d) for at least one other layer of the first component.
2. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein said additive manufacturing device is further configured to fabricate the second component based upon the compensated digital two-dimensional cross-sections.
3. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to generate a compensated digital representation of the second component based on the compensated digital two-dimensional cross-sections.
4. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein for an initial layer of the first component, said processor is configured to generate a cumulative compensation transformation equal to an identity transformation.
5. The system in accordance with Claim 4, wherein for each layer of the first component other than the initial layer, said processor is configured to generate a cumulative compensation transformation for the ith layer by applying a local compensation transformation corresponding to the (i – 1)th layer to a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the (i – 1)th layer.
6. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the local compensation transformation for the ith layer of the first component is based upon a difference between a geometric characteristic of the ith layer and a corresponding geometric characteristic of the intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer.
7. The system in accordance with Claim 6, wherein the geometric characteristic includes at least one of a shape, an orientation, a length, a width, and a relative position.
8. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein said

second component is an aircraft component.
9. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein said additive manufacturing device comprises a selective laser sintering device.
10. A method of fabricating a component using an additive manufacturing process, said method comprising:
fabricating a first component by sequentially forming a plurality of superposed layers based upon a nominal digital representation of a second component, wherein the nominal digital representation comprises a plurality of nominal digital two-dimensional cross-sections, each nominal digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to a layer of the first component; and
for an ith layer of the first component:
(a) generating a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer;
(b) applying the cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer to the nominal digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer to create an intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer;
(c) determining a local compensation transformation for the ith layer;
(d) applying the local compensation transformation for the ith layer to the intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer to create a compensated digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer; and
(e) performing (a) through (d) for at least one other layer of the first component.

11. The method in accordance with Claim 10, further comprising fabricating the second component based upon the compensated digital two-dimensional cross-sections.
12. The method in accordance with Claim 10, further comprising generating a compensated digital representation of the second component based on the compensated digital two-dimensional cross-sections.
13. The method in accordance with Claim 10, wherein for an initial layer of the first component, generating a cumulative compensation transformation comprises generating a cumulative compensation transformation equal to an identity transformation.
14. The method in accordance with Claim 13, wherein for each layer of the first component other than the initial layer, generating a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer comprises applying a local compensation transformation corresponding to the (i – 1)th layer to a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the (i – 1)th layer.
15. The method in accordance with Claim 10 wherein determining a local compensation transformation for the ith layer comprises determining a difference between a geometric characteristic of the ith layer and a corresponding geometric characteristic of the intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer.
16. The method in accordance with Claim 10 wherein fabricating the first component comprises a selective laser sintering process.
17. A system for generating a compensated digital representation of a three-dimensional object, wherein generating the compensated digital representation is based upon the fabrication of a first three-dimensional object fabricated by sequentially forming a plurality of superposed layers, and wherein sequentially forming a plurality of superposed layers is based upon a

nominal digital representation of the three-dimensional object, further wherein the nominal digital representation of the three-dimensional object includes a plurality of nominal digital two-dimensional cross-sections, each nominal digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to a layer of the first three-dimensional object, said system comprising:
a memory device configured to store the nominal digital representation of the three-dimensional object; and
a processor, wherein for an ith layer of the first three-dimensional object said processor is configured to:
(a) generate a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer;
(b) apply the cumulative compensation transformation associated with the ith layer to the nominal digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer to create an intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer;
(c) determine a local compensation transformation for the ith layer;
(d) apply the local compensation transformation for the ith layer to the intermediate digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer to create a compensated digital two-dimensional cross-section corresponding to the ith layer; and
(e) perform (a) through (d) for at least one other layer of the first three-dimensional object.
18. The system in accordance with Claim 17, wherein said processor is further configured to generate the compensated digital representation of the three-dimensional object based on the compensated digital two-dimensional

19. The system in accordance with Claim 17, wherein for an initial layer of the first three-dimensional object, said processor is configured to generate a cumulative compensation transformation equal to an identity compensation transformation.
20. The system in accordance with Claim 19, wherein for each layer of the first three-dimensional object other than the initial layer, said processor is configured to generate a cumulative compensation transformation for the ith layer by applying a local compensation transformation corresponding to the (i – 1)th layer to a cumulative compensation transformation associated with the (i – 1)th layer.