Nanoparticle enhancement for additive manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016339520-A1
Application number	US-201515113804-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 12, 2015
Priority date	Jan 24, 2014
Publication date	Nov 24, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a component includes providing a metallic first powder having a plurality of first particles with a first mean particle diameter. A second powder added to the first powder has a plurality of second particles with a second mean particle diameter less than the first mean particle diameter. Energy is applied to at least the second powder so as to selectively heat the second particles. The first powder is combined with the heated second powder to form a modified powder including modified powder particles. Modified powder particles have an interior portion containing an interior composition, and an outer surface portion with an outer composition different from the interior composition.

First claim

1 . A method for making a bulk material, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of metallic particulates; arranging a plurality of nanoparticles interstitially between adjacent ones of the plurality of metallic particulates; applying an energy beam to the combination of metallic particulates and nanoparticles; and consolidating the metallic particulates and the nanoparticles into a first bulk layer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the nanoparticles form an alloy with at least an outer portion of the metallic particulates.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a composition of the plurality of metallic particulates comprises a first metallic material selected from a group consisting of: iron, nickel, titanium, aluminum, and alloys thereof.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition of the plurality of metallic particulates comprises a second metallic material different from a first metallic material.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a composition of the plurality of nanoparticles comprises a metallic nanomaterial.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the composition of the metallic nanomaterial includes an alloying element which is at least partially soluble in the first metallic material.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a composition of the plurality of nanoparticles comprises a carbon nanomaterial.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the carbon nanomaterial is selected from: nanowire, nanotubes, graphene, and combinations thereof.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a composition of the plurality of nanoparticles comprises a ceramic nanomaterial.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the combination of the metallic particulates and the ceramic nanomaterial forms a nanocomposite with a ceramic reinforcement nanostructure supported by a metallic matrix.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the metallic particulate material has a first thermal conductivity and the nanoparticles have a second thermal conductivity different from the first thermal conductivity.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the metallic particulates have a mean particle diameter of more than about 300 nm, and the nanoparticles have a characteristic dimension of less than about 100 nm.

13 . A method for operating an additive manufacturing apparatus, the method comprising:
(a) providing a plurality of first metallic particulates having a mean particle diameter of more than about 300 nm; (b) arranging a plurality of first nanoparticles interstitially between adjacent ones of the plurality of metallic particulates, the nanoparticles having a characteristic dimension of less than about 100 nm; (c) placing the first metallic particulates and first nanoparticles onto or proximate to a deposition surface of the additive manufacturing apparatus; (d) directing an energy beam selectively over the first metallic particulates and the first nanoparticles to form a first molten powder pool; (e) solidifying at least a portion of the first molten powder pool to form a build layer on the deposition surface.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the deposition surface is a subsequent deposition surface comprising at least one previously solidified build layer.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
iteratively performing steps (a)-(e) to form a plurality of build layers.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein at least some of the first nanoparticles form an alloy with at least an outer portion of the first metallic particulates.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein a composition of the plurality of first metallic particulates comprises a first metallic material selected from a group consisting of: iron, nickel, titanium, aluminum, and alloys thereof.

18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing a plurality of second metallic particulates having a mean particle diameter of more than about 300 nm; wherein a composition of the plurality of second metallic particulates comprises a second metallic material different from the first metallic material.

19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein a composition of the first nanoparticles comprises at least one of: a metallic nanomaterial, a carbon nanomaterial, and a ceramic nanomaterial.

20 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the carbon nanomaterial is selected from:
nanowire, nanotubes, graphene, and combinations thereof.

21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the combination of the metallic particulates and the first nanoparticles forms a nanocomposite with a reinforcement nanostructure supported by a metallic matrix.

22 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing a plurality of second nanoparticles having a characteristic dimension of less than about 100 nm; wherein a composition of the plurality of second nanoparticles comprises a second nanomaterial different from the first nanomaterial.

Assignees

• United Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Zhang Yan
• Schmidt Wayde R

Classifications

• B22F12/44

  characterised by the configuration of the radiation means · CPC title

• B22F10/25

  Direct deposition of metal particles, e.g. direct metal deposition [DMD] or laser engineered net shaping [LENS] · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title

• B22F12/55 Primary

  Two or more means for feeding material · CPC title

• B22F1/052

  characterised by a mixture of particles of different sizes or by the particle size distribution · CPC title