Additive manufacturing system and additive manufacturing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9776362-B2
Application number	US-201514609447-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2015
Priority date	Oct 27, 2014
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

An additive manufacturing system is provided. The system includes: a stage, a powder supplying device, an energy beam generating device and an atmosphere controlling module. The powder supplying device provides powder to the stage. The energy beam-generating device generates an energy beam and directs the energy beam to the stage. The atmosphere controlling module includes at least one pair of gas inlet-outlet devices coupled around the stage, and a dynamic gas flow controlling device connected with the gas inlet-outlet devices. The dynamic gas flow controlling device dynamically controls an angle between a flow direction of the gas and a moving direction of the energy beam. The angle is predetermined by a scanning strategy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An additive manufacturing system, comprising:
a stage;
a powder supplying device, providing a powder to a surface of the stage;
an energy beam generating device, generating an energy beam and directing the energy beam to the stage; and
an atmosphere controlling module, comprising:
at least a pair of gas inlet-outlet devices, coupled around the stage; and
a dynamic gas flow controlling device, connected to the gas inlet-outlet devices, wherein the dynamic gas flow controlling device dynamically controls an angle between a flow direction of the gas and a moving direction of the energy beam by a predetermined scanning strategy,

wherein the gas inlet-outlet device comprises a plurality of blocks divided up by a plurality of movable vanes.

2. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the dynamic gas flow controlling device comprises:
a gas inlet-outlet switch device, dynamically controlling to turn on or off the gas inlet-outlet devices.

3. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the dynamic gas flow controlling device comprises:
a gas flow direction adjustment device, dynamically controlling a flow direction of the gas.

4. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the dynamic gas flow controlling device comprises:
a gas flow speed adjustment device, dynamically controlling a flow speed of the gas.

5. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a first rotating mechanism, connected to the dynamic gas flow controlling device and making the gas inlet-outlet devices rotate around the stage.

6. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a second rotating mechanism, connected to the dynamic gas flow controlling device and making the stage rotate around a normal line of the surface of the stage.

7. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the gas inlet-outlet devices are arranged to be separate or adjacent with respect to each other and in a circular, square, or polygonal arrangement.

8. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the gas inlet-outlet devices are configured as honeycombs, grids, voids, vanes, fan blades, or a combination thereof.

9. The additive manufacturing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the energy beam generating device performs a selective melt forming process to the powder, and the selective melt forming process comprises performing a selective laser sintering process, a selective laser melting process, a direct metal laser sintering process, an electron beam melting process, or a combination thereof.

10. An additive manufacturing method, comprising:
providing a powder onto a target surface of a stage;
irradiating the powder with an energy beam and directing the energy beam on the powder to form a solidified layer;
providing a gas to the target surface of the stage from at least one pair of gas inlet-outlet devices coupled around the stage, wherein the gas inlet-outlet device comprises a plurality of blocks divided up by a plurality of movable vanes;
dynamically controlling an angle between a flow direction of the gas and a moving direction of the energy beam, wherein the angle is predetermined by a scanning strategy; and
repetitively performing the above-mentioned steps until a plurality of the solidified layers formed accordingly accumulate into a three-dimensional product.

11. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of dynamically controlling the angle between the flow direction of the gas and the moving direction of the energy beam comprises: dynamically controlling to turn on or off some of the gas inlet-outlet devices.

12. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of dynamically controlling the angle between the flow direction of the gas and the moving direction of the energy beam comprises: making the gas inlet-outlet devices rotate around the stage.

13. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of dynamically controlling the angle between the flow direction of the gas and the moving direction of the energy beam comprises: dynamically controlling the flow direction of the gas, a flow speed of the gas, or a combination thereof.

14. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of dynamically controlling the angle between the flow direction of the gas and the moving direction of the energy beam comprises: making the stage rotate around a normal line of the surface of the stage.

15. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the angle between the flow direction of the gas and the moving direction is greater than 135 degrees and less than 225 degrees.

16. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of irradiating the powder with the energy beam and directing the energy beam on the powder comprises:
performing a selective melt forming process to the powder, wherein the selective melt forming process comprises performing a selective laser sintering process, a selective laser melting process, a direct metal laser sintering process, an electron beam melting process, or a combination thereof.

17. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein an energy density of the energy beam is in a range of 0.1 J/mm 2 to 100 J/mm 2 .

18. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a scanning speed of the energy beam is in a range of 50 mm/sec to 2,000 mm/sec.

19. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the gas comprises argon, nitrogen, helium, or a combination thereof.

20. The additive manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a focus light spot of the energy beam is in a range of 1 μm to 10,000 μm.

Assignees

• Ind Tech Res Inst

Inventors

• Chuang Chuan-Sheng
• Lin Ching-Chih
• Huang Wei-Chin
• Lin De-Yau

Classifications

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B33Y30/00

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

• B29C64/153 Primary

  using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting · CPC title

• B29C64/393

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title