Additive manufacturing using miscible materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016039194-A1
Application number	US-201414454796-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 8, 2014
Priority date	Aug 8, 2014
Publication date	Feb 11, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An object can be formed in an additive manufacturing process, such as FDM, by providing a substrate having at least a surface that is made of a first material, and forming one or more layers of a second material on the surface of the substrate, wherein a Hildebrand solubility parameter of the second material is within about 5% of a Hildebrand solubility parameter of the first material. In this manner, the object part formed by the one or more layers of the second material may be incorporated into the object. In an example, the object includes a first portion comprised of the one or more layers of the second material and a second portion comprised of the substrate, the first portion having a first haze value and the second portion having a second haze value, wherein a percent difference between the first haze value and the second haze value is equal to or greater than about 165%.

First claim

1 . A method comprising:
removably mounting a preformed substrate to a platform, the preformed substrate having a surface including a first material; forming one or more layers of a second material on the surface of the preformed substrate by an additive manufacturing process, wherein a Hildebrand solubility parameter of the second material is within about 5% of a Hildebrand solubility parameter of the first material; and producing an object comprising the preformed substrate and the one or more layers of the second material bonded to the preformed substrate.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the one or more layers comprises forming the one or more layers of the second material on a portion of the surface of the preformed substrate, wherein the object comprises a section of the preformed substrate, and wherein the producing the object comprises removing the section of the preformed substrate from a remainder of the substrate.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the removing comprises cutting around a periphery of the section of the preformed substrate with a laser cutter.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material and the second material are thermoplastic.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the first material includes a first copolyester and the second material includes a second copolyester.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the haze value of the first material is no greater than about 4.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the one or more layers of the second material on the surface of the preformed substrate by the additive manufacturing process comprises positioning a heated nozzle of an additive manufacturing system within a predetermined distance from the surface of the preformed substrate, and moving the heated nozzle across the surface of the preformed substrate at a predetermined speed while extruding the second material through the heated nozzle in order to join the first material underneath the heated nozzle at the surface of the preformed substrate upon contacting the second material with the first material.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive manufacturing process forms the one or more layers of the second material according to a pattern that is predetermined by software code.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming one or more layers comprises depositing the second material, layer-by-layer, on the surface of the preformed substrate to form a three-dimensional (3D) printed portion of the object bonded to the preformed substrate, and wherein a strength of a bond at an interface between the preformed substrate and the 3D printed portion is at a level that, upon the 3D printed portion being subjected to a shear force of an amount to cause failure, the failure occurs at a location other than the interface.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein at least about 80% of a cross-sectional surface area of the interface remains bonded.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein at least about 95% of a cross-sectional surface area of the interface remains bonded.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein about 100% of a cross-sectional surface area of the interface remains bonded.

13 . A method comprising:
forming one or more layers of a material on a surface of a substrate by an additive manufacturing process to produce an object having a first portion comprised of the one or more layers of the material and a second portion comprised of the substrate, the first portion having a first haze value and the second portion having a second haze value, wherein a percent difference between the first haze value and the second haze value is at least about 165%.

14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the forming the one or more layers comprises forming the one or more layers of the material on a portion of the surface of the substrate, and wherein the second portion of the object comprises a section of the substrate, the method further comprising removing the section of the substrate from a body of the substrate.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the forming the one or more layers of the material on the surface of the substrate is performed via extrusion of the material through a nozzle of a dispenser head.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the material includes a first thermoplastic polymer and the substrate includes a second thermoplastic polymer.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the forming the one or more layers comprises forming the one or more layers of the material on a portion of the surface of the substrate, and wherein the second portion of the object comprises a section of the substrate, the method further comprising forming one or more additional layers of the material on an additional portion of the surface of the substrate to produce an additional object having a first portion comprised of the one or more additional layers of the material and a second portion comprised of an additional section of the substrate.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising removing the section and the additional section from a body of the substrate.

19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising placing the substrate on a conveyer, and moving the conveyer to position the substrate underneath a nozzle of a dispenser head that deposits the one or more layers of the material onto the surface of the substrate.

20 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising applying heat to the material before depositing the material onto the surface of the substrate, the heated material being at a temperature included in a range of about 135° C. to about 360° C.

21 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising moving a nozzle of a dispenser head of an additive manufacturing system at a speed included in a range of about 20 mm/second to about 300 mm/second to form the one or more layers of the material on the surface of the substrate.

22 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the forming the one or more layers of the material on the substrate includes positioning a nozzle of a dispenser head of an additive manufacturing system within a predetermined distance included within a range of about 0.02 mm to about 4 mm from the surface of the substrate.

23 . An additive manufactured article comprising:
a first portion including a first material, the first material having a first haze value and a first Hildebrand solubility parameter; and a second portion including a second material, the second material having a second haze value and a second Hildebrand solubility parameter, wherein a percent difference between the first haze value and the second haze value is equal to or greater than about 165%, and wherein the first Hildebrand solubility parameter is within about 5% of the second Hildebrand solubility parameter, wherein the first material or the second material comprises layers on layers of said first or second material, respectively.

24 . The article of claim 23 , wherein the first Hildebrand solubility parameter is substantially the same as the second Hildebrand solubility parameter.

25 . The article of claim 23 , wherein the first haze value is included in a range of about 0.1 to about 6 and the second haze value is included in a range of about 65 to about 95.

26 . The article of claim 23 , wherein the first material includes a first thermoplastic polymer and the second material includes a second thermoplastic polymer.

27 . Th

Assignees

• Eastman Chem Co

Inventors

• Cable Kevin Michael

Classifications

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29C64/118 Primary

  using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM] · CPC title

• B32B38/0004 Primary

  Cutting, tearing or severing, e.g. bursting; Cutter details (cutting in general B26D; laminating combined with punching or perforating B32B38/04; removing all or part of the layers B32B38/10; cutting in combination with laying up and registration B32B38/185 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C64/182

  in parallel batches · CPC title