Additive manufacturing method and equipment

Abstract

An additive manufacturing method that includes building an object layer by layer by repeatedly providing layers of material on a build platform and scanning a beam across the layers to consolidate the material. A plurality of supports (205a to 205h) may be provided for supporting the object during construction. Each support (205a to 205h) may comprise a body (206a to 206h) attached to said object by a 2-dimensional pattern of breakable structures (207). The method may further comprise applying an input force to the body (206a to 206h) to displace the body (206a to 206h) to rupture the frangible structure (207). Support structures that can be used in this approach are also proposed. The support structure may comprise a plurality of supports (205a to 205h) for supporting the object, each support (205a to 205h) comprising a 2-dimensional pattern of breakable structures (207) attached to the object The subject of (206a to 206h). The supports (205a to 205h) may be arranged such that the bodies (206a to 206h) define a gap therebetween into which at least one of the bodies (206a to 206h) is displaceable by an input force to breaking the fragile structure.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an additive manufacturing method and apparatus, and in particular, but not exclusively, to a method and apparatus for building supports for objects constructed using additive manufacturing such that at the end of the build they can be easily release the object from the support. The invention is particularly applicable to the construction of objects and associated support structures from metal powders. Background technique [0002] In additive manufacturing processes, such as in selective laser melting (SLM) or selective laser sintering (SLS), objects are formed by the consolidation of materials such as powdered materials using a focused high-energy beam such as a laser beam or an electron beam. Build layer by layer. In SLM or SLS, successive layers of powder are deposited onto a build platform, and a focused laser beam is scanned across the portion of each layer corresponding to the cross-section of the built object s...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, a weakening of the area of ​​the support may cause insufficient support of the object

For example, the forces generated by the heat that promotes curling of the object during build can cause the object to detach from the support at these weakened fracture points causing distortion and possible failure of the build.

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