Method for manufacturing three-dimensional shaped object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9687911-B2
Application number	US-201314382605-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2013
Priority date	Mar 9, 2012
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A manufacturing method of a three-dimensional shaped object is capable of suitably forming a solidified layer by subsequent formation of a powder layer. The manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed by repetition of a powder-layer forming and a solidified-layer forming, the repetition including forming a solidified layer by irradiating a predetermined portion of a powder layer with a light beam, thereby allowing a sintering of the powder in the predetermined portion or a melting and subsequent solidification thereof; and forming another solidified layer by newly forming a powder layer on the resulting solidified layer, followed by the irradiation of a predetermined portion of the powder layer with the light beam, wherein a light-beam condition for an irradiation path with an unirradiated portion on both adjacent sides thereof is different from that for another irradiation path with an irradiated portion at an adjacent region.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object by repetition of a powder-layer forming and a solidified-layer forming, the repetition comprising the steps of:
(i) forming a solidified layer by irradiating a predetermined portion of a powder layer with a light beam, thereby allowing a sintering of the powder in the predetermined portion or a melting and subsequent solidification thereof; and
(ii) forming another solidified layer by newly forming a powder layer on the resulting solidified layer, followed by the irradiation of a predetermined portion of the powder layer with the light beam,
wherein a discrimination on the light-beam irradiation is made whether a scan path of the light-beam corresponds to an irradiation path with an unirradiated portion on both adjacent sides thereof, or another irradiation path with an irradiated portion at an adjacent region thereto, and
wherein a light-beam irradiation energy for the irradiation path with the unirradiated portion on the both adjacent sides thereof is lower than that for the another irradiation path with the irradiated portion at the adjacent region thereto.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a light-beam irradiation power for the irradiation path with the unirradiated portion on the both adjacent sides thereof is lower than that for the another irradiation path with the irradiated portion at the adjacent region thereto.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the light-beam irradiation energy for at least an initial irradiation path for each of the powder layers is lower than that for the other irradiation paths for the each of the powder layers.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein an initial path is a path along a contour of a shaped-object forming region, whereas subsequent paths are located inside of the contour, each of the subsequent paths being adjacent to a prior path thereto, in which case the light-beam irradiation energy or power for the initial path is lower than that for each of the subsequent paths.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an each irradiation path for each of the powder layers is divided into a sub-irradiation path “A” with the unirradiated portion on the both adjacent sides thereof and a sub-irradiation path “B” with the irradiated portion at the adjacent region thereto, and
the light-beam irradiation energy for the sub-irradiation path “A” is lower than that for the sub-irradiation path “B”.

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp
• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Abe Satoshi
• Yoshida Norio
• Higashi Yoshikazu

Classifications

• B29C64/188 Primary

  involving additional operations performed on the added layers, e.g. smoothing, grinding or thickness control (surface shaping B29C59/00; after-treatment of articles without altering their shape B29C71/00) · CPC title

• B22F12/45

  Two or more · CPC title

• B22F10/38

  to achieve specific product aspects, e.g. surface smoothness, density, porosity or hollow structures · CPC title

• B22F10/28

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

• Y02P10/25

  Process efficiency · CPC title