System and method of additively manufacturing an object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021129427-A1
Application number	US-201916671656-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 1, 2019
Priority date	Nov 1, 2019
Publication date	May 6, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for use in additively manufacturing an object. The system includes a powder bed configured for containment within a build chamber, wherein the powder bed is formed from a mixture of a build material and a bonding agent. The system also includes a heat source configured to selectively heat the powder bed to a temperature such that the build material is at least partially sintered together by the bonding agent. The heat source also selectively heats the powder bed to the temperature that maintains the build material in a solid state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for use in additively manufacturing an object, the system comprising:
a powder bed configured for containment within a build chamber, wherein the powder bed is formed from a mixture of a build material and a bonding agent; and a heat source configured to selectively heat the powder bed to a temperature such that the build material is at least partially sintered together by the bonding agent, wherein the heat source selectively heats the powder bed to the temperature that maintains the build material in a solid state.

2 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the heat source comprises at least one of a projection raster heating device, an electron beam projector, a spark heating device, and a multiplexed laser array.

3 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the heat source has a maximum power level configured to provide an amount of energy to the powder bed that is a predetermined percentage of a volumetric heating value required to melt the build material.

4 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the heat source has a maximum power level configured to heat the powder bed to the temperature that is about 70 percent of a value of a melting point of the build material.

5 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the heat source has a maximum power level configured to heat the powder bed to the temperature that is greater than a melting point of the bonding agent and that is lower than a melting point of the build material.

6 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the powder bed includes less than about 30 percent of the bonding agent by volume of the mixture.

7 . A method of additively manufacturing an object, the method comprising:
providing a powder bed formed from a mixture of a build material and a bonding agent; selectively heating the powder bed to a temperature such that the build material is at least partially sintered together to form a compact object, wherein the temperature is selected to maintain the build material in a solid state; and heating the compact object in an oven to sinter the build material and form a densified object.

8 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises emitting a laser beam towards the powder bed at a power level that is a predetermined percentage of a volumetric heating value required to melt the build material.

9 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises heating the powder bed with at least one of a projection raster heating device, an electron beam projector, a spark heating device, and a multiplexed laser array.

10 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises heating the powder bed to the temperature that is about 70 percent of a value of a melting point of the build material.

11 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein providing a powder bed comprises forming the mixture from the bonding agent having a particle size less than about 30 microns.

12 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein providing a powder bed comprises forming the mixture that includes less than about 30 percent of the bonding agent by volume of the mixture.

13 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises heating the powder bed to the temperature that is greater than a melting point of the bonding agent.

14 . The method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein providing a powder bed comprises providing the powder bed with the bonding agent that includes a bonding component and an antioxidation component, wherein, when heated, the bonding component is configured to bond the build material, and the antioxidation component is configured to remove surface oxides from the build material

15 . An object additively manufactured by a process comprising the steps of:
providing a powder bed formed from a mixture of a build material and a bonding agent; selectively heating the powder bed to a temperature such that the build material is at least partially sintered together to form a compact object, wherein the temperature is selected to maintain the build material in a solid state; and heating the compact object in an oven to sinter the build material and form a densified object.

16 . The object additively manufactured in accordance with claim 15 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises emitting a plurality of laser beams towards the object simultaneously from a multiplexed array.

17 . The object additively manufactured in accordance with claim 15 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises heating the powder bed to the temperature that is about 70 percent of a value of a melting point of the build material.

18 . The object additively manufactured in accordance with claim 15 , wherein providing a powder bed comprises forming the mixture from bonding agent having a particle size less than about 10 microns.

19 . The object additively manufactured in accordance with claim 15 , wherein providing a powder bed comprises forming the mixture that includes less than about 30 percent of the bonding agent by volume of the mixture.

20 . The object additively manufactured in accordance with claim 15 , wherein selectively heating the powder bed comprises heating the powder bed to the temperature that is greater than a melting point of the bonding agent.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Oppenheimer Scott Michael
• Didomizio Richard
• Karp Jason Harris

Classifications

• B22F10/16

  by embedding the binder within the powder bed · CPC title

• B22F12/41

  characterised by the type, e.g. laser or electron beam · CPC title

• Y02P10/25

  Process efficiency · CPC title

• B29C64/268

  using laser beams; using electron beams [EB] · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title