Autozoning of additive manufacturing print parameters

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11914342-B2
Application number	US-202117505286-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2021
Priority date	Jul 31, 2019
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

A method, medium, and system including determining a material property value to assign to each of the plurality of 3D volume elements, wherein the material property values assigned to the plurality of 3D volume elements are classified into a predetermined number of bins that correspond to a plurality of different additive manufacturing (AM) print parameter sets, generating a plurality of transfer functions to determine relationships between the material property values assigned to the plurality of 3D volume elements and a plurality of desired AM print parameter sets, automatically determining, based on the plurality of transfer functions, an assignment of one of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to each of the plurality of 3D volume elements, and validating the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets for the plurality of 3D volume elements based on the plurality of transfer functions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining, using a processor, a representation of a model of a part as a plurality of discrete three-dimensional (3D) volume elements, the part including a first region and a second region, the second region surrounding a perimeter of the first region;
determining, using the processor, a first material property value to assign to a first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the first region and a second material property value to assign to a second one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the second region, the second material property value different from the first material property value, wherein the first and second material property values are classified into a predetermined number of bins that correspond to a plurality of different additive manufacturing (AM) print parameter sets wherein at least one of dilation or smoothing is used to expand at least one of (a) the first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the first region or (b) the second one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the second region;
generating, using the processor, a plurality of transfer functions to determine relationships between the first and second material property values and a plurality of desired AM print parameter sets;
automatically determining, using the processor and based on the plurality of transfer functions, an assignment of a first one of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to the first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements and an assignment of a second one of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to the second one of the plurality of 3D volume elements;
validating, using the processor, the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets for the plurality of 3D volume elements based on the plurality of transfer functions; and
transmitting, using the processor, a record of the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to an AM controller, the AM controller to control an AM system to generate the part based on the model and the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameters sets to each of the plurality of 3D volume elements.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of desired AM print parameter sets include an existing library of parameters including at least one of a tensile strength, a surface roughness, a density, a low cycle fatigue value, a creep, an oxidation resistance, or a crack propagation resistance.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the model of the part uses, as inputs to the model, boundary conditions and material properties for the part.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined first and second material property values are predicted life-cycles for the first and second regions of the part represented by the first and second ones of the plurality of 3D volume elements to which the determined first and second material property values are assigned.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of 3D volume elements includes at least one of a voxel or a plurality of voxels.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination of the assignments of the first and second ones of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to each of the first and second ones of the plurality of 3D volume elements is based on at least one of a design requirement for the part or a material response characteristic for the part.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second regions forming the generated part complies with a design requirement for the part.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the determining of the first and second material property values or the determining of the assignments is performed iteratively after an initial performance of the assignment of the first one of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to the first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements.

9. A system comprising:
at least one memory;
instructions in the system; and
one or more processors to execute the instructions to:
determine a representation of a model of a part as a plurality of discrete three-dimensional (3D) volume elements, the part including a first region and a second region, the second region surrounding a perimeter of the first region;

determine a first material property value to assign to a first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the first region and a second material property value to assign to a second one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the second region, the second material property value different f rom the first material property value, wherein the first and second material property values are classified into a predetermined number of bins that correspond to a plurality of different additive manufacturing (AM) print parameter sets, wherein at least one of dilation or smoothing is used to expand at least one of (a) the first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the first region or (b) the second one of the plurality of 3D volume elements in the second region;
generate a plurality of transfer functions to determine relationships between the first and second material property values and a plurality of desired AM print parameter sets;
automatically determine based on the plurality of transfer functions, an assignment of a first one of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to the first one of the plurality of 3D volume elements and an assignment of a second one of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to the second one of the plurality of 3D volume elements;
validate the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets for the plurality of 3D volume elements based on the plurality of transfer functions; and
transmit a record of the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to an AM controller, the AM controller to control an AM system to generate the part based on the model and the determined assignments of the plurality of different AM print parameters sets to each of the plurality of 3D volume elements.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of desired AM print parameter sets include an existing library of parameters including at least one of a tensile strength, a surface roughness, a density, a low cycle fatigue value, a creep, an oxidation resistance, or a crack propagation resistance.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the model of the part uses, as inputs to the model, boundary conditions and material properties for the part.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the determined first and second material property values are predicted life-cycles for the first and second regions of the part represented by the first and second ones of the plurality of 3D volume elements to which the determined first and second material property values are assigned.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of 3D volume elements includes at least one of a voxel or a plurality of voxels.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the determination of the assignments of the first and second ones of the plurality of different AM print parameter sets to each of the first and second ones of the plurality of 3D volume elements is based on at least one of a design requirement for the part or a material response characteristic for the part.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the first and second regions forming the generated part complies with a design requirement for the part.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein at least

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Rangarajan Arvind
• Vasil Christina Margaret
• Mook Joshua
• Vinciquerra Anthony J
• Mccarthy Brian
• Gupta Vipul Kumar

Classifications

• G05B19/4099 Primary

  Surface or curve machining, making three-dimensional [3D] objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing · CPC title

• B23K26/342

  Build-up welding · CPC title

• B33Y50/02 Primary

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• G06K15/1823

  for evaluating the resources needed, e.g. rasterizing time, ink, paper stock · CPC title

• G05B2219/35134

  3-D cad-cam · CPC title