Systems and methods for advanced additive manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10661552-B2
Application number	US-201715663220-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2017
Priority date	Jul 28, 2017
Publication date	May 26, 2020
Grant date	May 26, 2020

Abstract

A controller for use in an additive manufacturing system including a consolidation device configured to consolidate material is provided. The controller is configured to receive a build file for a component including a plurality of build layers, wherein each build layer includes a component outer perimeter, at least one build layer generating function, at least one generating function variable, and at least one generating function constant. The controller is configured to generate at least one control signal to control a power output throughout at least one scan path of the consolidation device across the material for each build layer of the plurality of build layers, the at least one scan path generated based at least partially on the component outer perimeter, the at least one generating function, the at least one generating function variable, and the at least one generating function constant for each build layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A controller for use in an additive manufacturing system including a consolidation device, the consolidation device configured to consolidate material, said controller comprising a processing device and a memory device coupled to said processing device, said controller configured to:
receive a build file for a component including a plurality of build layers representing sliced portions of the component as a whole, wherein each build layer of the plurality of build layers includes a component outer perimeter, at least one build layer generating function, at least one generating function variable, and at least one generating function constant, wherein the at least one generating function is a mathematical function that takes the at least one generating function variable and the at least one generating function constant as input values to define an internal geometry within the component outer perimeter for the associated build layer;
generate at least one control signal to control a power output throughout at least one scan path of the consolidation device across the material for each build layer of the plurality of build layers, the at least one scan path for each build layer corresponding to the internal geometry defined by the at least one generating function for that build layer; and
transmit the control signal to the consolidation device to consolidate the material throughout the at least one scan path.

2. The controller in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said controller is further configured to:
generate a representation of a three-dimensional (3D) geometry of the component, wherein the representation of the 3D geometry of the component is generated based on the component outer perimeter, the at least one generating function, the at least one generating function variable, and the at least one generating function constant for each build layer; and
display the generated representation of the 3D geometry on a controller presentation interface.

3. The controller in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said controller is further configured to:
divide the component into a first portion and a second portion;
generate a representation of a 3D geometry of only the first portion of the component, wherein the representation of the 3D geometry of the first portion of the component is generated based on the component outer perimeter, the at least one generating function, the at least one generating function variable, and the at least one generating function constant for each build layer; and
display only the generated representation of the 3D geometry of the first portion of the component on a controller presentation interface, wherein a two-dimensional (2D) size of the generated representation of the 3D geometry of the first portion of the component is substantially similar to a 2D size of the controller presentation interface.

4. The controller in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the at least one generating function defines at least one of a B-spline curve, a Hilbert curve, a lattice, and a unit cell.

5. The controller in accordance with claim 4 , wherein the at least one generating function includes a first generating function relating to a first portion of the internal geometry of the component and a second generating function relating to a second portion of the internal geometry of the component.

6. The controller in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a user input interface, wherein the at least one generating function is executable to at least partially define the at least one scan path based on at least one user input received using said user input interface.

7. The controller in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said controller is further configured to generate a non-uniform energy intensity profile for the at least one scan path of the consolidation device, wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile facilitates consolidating the material.

8. An additive manufacturing system comprising:
at least one consolidation device configured to consolidate a material;
an actuator system configured to move said at least one consolidation device across the material; and
a controller configured to:
receive a build file for a component including a plurality of build layers representing sliced portions of the component as a whole, wherein each build layer of the plurality of build layers includes a component outer perimeter, at least one build layer generating function, at least one generating function variable, and at least one generating function constant, wherein the at least one generating function is a mathematical function that takes the at least one generating function variable and the at least one generating function constant as input values to define an internal geometry within the component outer perimeter for the associated build layer;
generate at least one control signal to control a power output throughout at least one scan path of the consolidation device across the material for each build layer of the plurality of build layers, the at least one scan path for each build layer corresponding to the internal geometry defined by the at least one generating function for that build layer; and
transmit the control signal to the consolidation device to consolidate the material throughout the at least one scan path.

9. The additive manufacturing system of claim 8 , wherein said controller is further configured to:
generate a representation of a three-dimensional (3D) geometry of the component, wherein the representation of the 3D geometry of the component is generated based on the component outer perimeter, the at least one generating function, the at least one generating function variable, and the at least one generating function constant for each build layer; and
display the generated representation of the 3D geometry on a controller presentation interface.

10. The additive manufacturing system of claim 8 , wherein said controller is further configured to:
divide the component into a first portion and a second portion;
generate a representation of a 3D geometry of only the first portion of the component, wherein the representation of the 3D geometry of the first portion of the component is generated based on the component outer perimeter, the at least one generating function, the at least one generating function variable, and the at least one generating function constant for each build layer; and
display only the generated representation of the 3D geometry of the first portion of the component on a controller presentation interface, wherein a 2D size of the generated representation of the 3D geometry of the first portion of the component is substantially similar to a 2D size of the controller presentation interface.

11. The additive manufacturing system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one generating function defines at least one of a B-spline curve, a Hilbert curve, a lattice, and a unit cell.

12. The additive manufacturing system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one generating function includes a first generating function relating to a first portion of the internal geometry of the component and a second generating function relating to a second portion of the internal geometry of the component.

13. The additive manufacturing system of claim 8 , wherein said controller further comprises a user input interface, wherein the at least one generating function is executable to define the at least one scan path based on at least one user input received using said user input interface.

14. The additive manufacturing system of claim 8 , wherein said controller is further configured to generate a non-u

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Barua Ananda
• Subramaniyan Arun Karthi
• Erno Daniel Jason
• Hallman Darren Lee

Classifications

• B33Y50/00

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• G05B19/0405

  Program-control specially adapted for machine tool control and not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B29C64/386 Primary

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29C64/153

  using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting · CPC title

• G05B2219/49013

  Deposit layers, cured by scanning laser, stereo lithography SLA, prototyping · CPC title