Method And Apparatus For Support Removal Using Directed Atomized And Semi-Atomized Fluid

Abstract

An apparatus and method for removing support material from and / or smoothing surfaces of an additively manufactured part (the “AM part”) is disclosed. The apparatus may include a chamber, a support surface within the chamber, and one or more nozzles within the chamber. The nozzles may be the same size or different sizes. The support surface may be configured to support the AM part. The support surface may have one or more openings sized and configured to allow the fluid to pass through the opening(s). The nozzles may be configured to spray a fluid at the AM part, and the spray may be an atomized or semi-atomized spray of the fluid.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62 / 612,483, filed on Dec. 31, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by this reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for removing support material from parts that have been made via additive manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Additive manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing (e.g. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition modeling (FDM), material jetting (MJ), electron beam (e-beam), etc.) have enabled the production of parts having complex geometries that would never be possible through traditional manufacturing techniques, such as casting, injection molding, or forging. However, additive manufacturing produces parts that require significant efforts to remove unwanted support material. Th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022]A tank may be provided. The tank may be configured to hold a volume of the fluid, and to capture the fluid in the tank after the fluid is sprayed. Such a tank may be well suited to facilitating a cycling of the fluid through the nozzles so that the same fluid may be sprayed many times at the AM part.

Problems solved by technology

However, additive manufacturing produces parts that require significant efforts to remove unwanted support material.

The support material itself can have a complex geometry and can also be extensive.

Additionally, since additive manufacturing manufactures a part in discrete layers, the surface of a part is often rough, because adjacent layers may not end in similar locations thereby leaving a rough bumpy outer surface.

Such a rough outer surface is unappealing from a visual standpoint, and the uneven surface can create stress concentrations, which could develop during testing or use of the part and lead to pre-mature failure.

Depending on the type of part, using manual labor could be cost prohibitive, and could lead to excessive removal of material, an uneven surface, or both.

If a surface is finished unevenly or incompletely, stress concentrations could still be unintentionally prevalent, leading to pre-mature failure of the part.

In addition, manual removal of unwanted support material and manual surface finishing lacks consistency over an extended period of time and from part to part.

And, such manual removal / finishing may create a bottleneck in the production process since, for example, one technician can remove support material from only a single part at a time.

However, such machines are limited in the type of process parameters that can be altered to tailor the process to a specific part, and also such machines require the attention of, and operation by, a technician while the machine is running, which does not completely eliminate the bottleneck issue described above.

Additionally, if a technician is unaware that a machine is not set at the proper parameters, excessive material removal could occur, ruining the part.

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