Preheating a Build Plate for Additive Manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023302540-A1
Application number	US-202118002686-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 7, 2021
Priority date	Jun 24, 2020
Publication date	Sep 28, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

In summary, the teachings herein concern methods and/or systems for preheating a build plate for additive manufacturing with at least one energy beam emitting a power. In some examples, the method comprises controlling a power distribution (P XY ) of the power (P) over dimensions (X, Y) of the build plate comprising: determining the power (P) of the beam based on a target temperature (T SET ) for the base plate and determining the allocation of the power (P) to the dimensions (X, Y) based on a temperature distribution (ΔT) in the base plate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for preheating a build plate for additive manufacturing with an energy beam emitting a power, the method comprising:
controlling a power distribution of the power over dimensions of the build plate by:
determining a center temperature indicative of a temperature in a center area of the base plate;
determining an edge temperature indicative of a temperature in an edge region of the base plate;
determining a desired power of the beam based on a target temperature for the base plate;
calculating a temperature distribution based on a difference between the center temperature and the edge temperature;
determining the allocation of the power to the dimensions based on the temperature distribution in the base plate; and
controlling the power distribution based on a target temperature difference as a set value for the temperature distribution; and
wherein a first controller controls the power and a second controller controls the power distribution.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising limiting the beam power such that a melting temperature of the base plate is not exceeded at any local point.

3 . A method according to claim 1 , comprising limiting the beam power such that a melting temperature of the base plate is not exceeded at any local point by applying a limiting function to control the power distribution and/or the beam power.

4 . A method according to claim 3 , wherein the first controller is separate from the second controller.

5 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the desired power depends at least in part on a difference between a target temperature and the center temperature.

6 . A method for manufacturing an object layer by layer in a powder bed on a build plate using an energy beam emitting a power, the method comprising:
controlling a power distribution of the power over dimensions of the build plate by:
determining a center temperature indicative of a temperature in a center area of the base plate;
determining an edge temperature indicative of a temperature in an edge region of the base plate;
determining a desired power of the beam based on a target temperature for the base plate;
calculating a temperature distribution based on a difference between the center temperature and the edge temperature;
determining the allocation of the power to the dimensions based on the temperature distribution in the base plate; and
controlling the power distribution based on a target temperature difference as a set value for the temperature distribution;
wherein a first controller controls the power and a second controller controls the power distribution; and
building the object layer-by-layer on the build plate after preheating.

7 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining a target temperature for the base plate based on a material used to build the object.

8 . An additive manufacturing apparatus comprising:
an energy beam source; a powder bed with a build plate; and a control unit programmed to preheat the build plate by:
controlling a power distribution of the power over dimensions of the build plate by:
determining a center temperature indicative of a temperature in a center area of the base plate;
determining an edge temperature indicative of a temperature in an edge region of the base plate;
determining a desired power of the beam based on a target temperature for the base plate;
calculating a temperature distribution based on a difference between the center temperature and the edge temperature;
determining the allocation of the power to the dimensions based on the temperature distribution in the base plate; and
controlling the power distribution based on a target temperature difference as a set value for the temperature distribution;
wherein a first controller controls the power and a second controller controls the power distribution.

9 . An additive manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising:
an edge thermal sensor for determining an edge temperature; and a center thermal sensor for determining center temperature.

10 . An additive manufacturing apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising a temperature measurement system delivering a center temperature and an edge temperature .

Assignees

• Siemens Ag

Inventors

• Drendel Jan
• Heinrichsdorff Frank
• Logvinov Ruslan

Classifications

• B22F12/17 Primary

  to heat the build chamber or platform · CPC title

• B22F10/362

  for preheating · CPC title

• B22F12/90

  Means for process control, e.g. cameras or sensors · CPC title

• B33Y10/00 Primary

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y30/00

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title