Heterogeneous powder orderly arrangement device, arrangement system and arrangement method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of 3D printing, and provides a device, system and method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, including a molding cylinder, a first powder cylinder, a powder spreading device, a second powder cylinder and a powder arranging device, wherein the molding cylinder is used for molding; the powder spreading device can evenly spread the first powder in the first powder cylinder to the molding cylinder; the powder arranging device includes an adsorption device and a motion mechanism, wherein the adsorption device includes an arrangement orifice plate, and micropores are orderly arranged on the arrangement orifice plate, and the adsorption device is used to adsorb the second powder on the arrangement orifice plate, and the motion mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device to move between the molding cylinder and the second powder cylinder. The heterogeneous powders are arranged by the heterogeneous powder orderly arranging device, and the powders in the molding cylinder are sintered by the laser beam output by the laser scanning system, so that the orderly arrangement gradient molding of the heterogeneous powders is realized, and the quantitative distribution of different materials in the gradient material can be realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of 3D printing, and in particular to a device, a system and a method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders. Background Art

[0002] Additive technology is widely used in the forming of complex parts in the fields of aerospace, nuclear energy, automobiles, etc. due to its flexibility and high efficiency. Additive technology can be used to form functional gradient materials. Gradient materials combine the advantages of two or more materials and can present different mechanical properties according to the needs of different parts of the formed parts. However, the forming of gradient materials is mostly used in powder spraying process, and it is difficult to accurately control the proportion of materials.

[0003] Selective Laser Melting is a relatively mature process in additive manufacturing technology. It has great advantages in the manufacturing of complex structures, porous structures, grid structures and other structures. Its forming quality and precision are relatively high. It is one of the most widely used additive manufacturing technologies. However, most of the current selective laser cladding technologies can only process one material, and it is difficult to achieve accurate arrangement of heterogeneous powders, and cannot meet the processing quality and precision requirements of gradient forming of heterogeneous powders. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention aims to solve, at least to a certain extent, the technical problem that it is difficult to achieve accurate arrangement of heterogeneous powders in the existing selective laser cladding process, and provides a device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, and provides an arrangement system and an arrangement method having the heterogeneous powder arrangement device.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above technical problems is:

[0006] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, comprising a molding cylinder, a first powder cylinder, a powder spreading device, a second powder cylinder and a powder arranging device, wherein the molding cylinder is used for molding, the first powder cylinder is used to accommodate the first powder, and the second powder cylinder is used to accommodate the second powder; the powder spreading device can evenly spread the first powder in the first powder cylinder to the molding cylinder; the powder arranging device comprises an adsorption device and a moving mechanism, the adsorption device comprises an arranging orifice plate, micropores are orderly arranged on the arranging orifice plate, the adsorption device is used to adsorb the second powder on the arranging orifice plate, and the moving mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device to move between the molding cylinder and the second powder cylinder.

[0007] As an improvement of the above technical solution, the powder arrangement device also includes an air suction pipe, the adsorption device includes a shell, the shell is provided with an air suction port and an installation port, the arrangement orifice plate is installed at the installation port and covers the installation port, the air suction pipe is connected to the air suction port, and the air suction pipe is used to connect to a vacuum source.

[0008] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the outer surface of the arrangement hole plate is coplanar with the surface of the shell located on one side of the arrangement hole plate.

[0009] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the arrangement hole plate is detachably connected to the shell.

[0010] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, a vibrator is provided on the second powder cylinder, and the vibrator is used to vibrate the second powder in the second powder cylinder.

[0011] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the inner side of the arrangement hole plate is covered with a screen, and the through holes on the screen are smaller in shape than the micropores.

[0012] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the motion mechanism includes a Z-axis moving table, a Z-axis guide rail and an X-axis guide rail, the Z-axis moving table is slidably connected to the Z-axis guide rail, the Z-axis guide rail is slidably connected to the X-axis guide rail, and the adsorption device is directly or indirectly connected to the Z-axis moving table.

[0013] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the micropores are pore structures with regular shapes, or the micropores are irregular pore structures, or the micropores are a combination of pore structures with regular shapes and irregular pore structures.

[0014] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the micropores are straight holes or oblique holes; or, the micropores are a combination of straight holes and oblique holes.

[0015] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the first powder cylinder includes a cylinder wall, a bottom plate and a moving device, and the moving device can drive the bottom plate to rise or fall along the extension direction of the cylinder wall.

[0016] Another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a system for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, comprising a laser scanning system and an orderly arranging heterogeneous powders device of any of the above technical solutions, wherein the laser beam output by the laser scanning system is used to sinter the powder in the forming cylinder.

[0017] Another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention further provides a method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, based on the above-mentioned heterogeneous powder orderly arranging system, comprising the following steps:

[0018] S1. Laying a layer of the first powder on the forming cylinder, turning on the laser scanning system to sinter the first powder;

[0019] S2. Laying the first powder on the sintered powder layer;

[0020] S3. The second powder is adsorbed on the arrangement hole plate by the powder arrangement device and transferred to the top of the forming cylinder, and the second powder is pressed into the first powder laid in S3;

[0021] S4. Turn on the laser scanning system to sinter the powder layer formed in S4 according to the set trajectory;

[0022] S5. Repeat S1 to S4 for multiple times until the orderly arrangement structure of heterogeneous powders is formed.

[0023] As an improvement of the above technical solution, in the process of S5, for the set number of steps S3, the powder arrangement device with a plate with different arrangement holes is replaced.

[0024] The above technical solution has at least the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0025] The present invention relates to the field of laser cladding technology, and provides a device, system and method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, including a molding cylinder, a first powder cylinder, a powder spreading device, a second powder cylinder and a powder arranging device, wherein the molding cylinder is used for molding, the first powder cylinder is used for accommodating the first powder, and the second powder cylinder is used for accommodating the second powder; the powder spreading device can evenly spread the first powder in the first powder cylinder to the molding cylinder; the powder arranging device includes an adsorption device and a motion mechanism, the adsorption device includes an arrangement hole plate, micropores are orderly arranged on the arrangement hole plate, the adsorption device is used to adsorb the second powder on the arrangement hole plate, and the motion mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device to move between the molding cylinder and the second powder cylinder. The heterogeneous powders are arranged by the heterogeneous powder orderly arranging device, and the laser beam output by the laser scanning system is used to sinter the powder in the molding cylinder, so that the orderly arrangement gradient molding of the heterogeneous powders is realized, and the quantitative distribution of different materials in the gradient material can be realized. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following is a brief description of the drawings required for describing the embodiments:

[0027] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders;

[0028] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of an embodiment of a powder arrangement device and a second powder cylinder;

[0029] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the powder arrangement process;

[0030] Figure 4 A cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of an arrangement of orifice plates;

[0031] Figure 5 A cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of an arrangement of orifice plates;

[0032] Figure 6 This is an example of the shape of microholes arranged on the orifice plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In the description of the present invention, if it involves a description of orientation, for example, the orientation or position relationship indicated by "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc. is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present invention. If a feature is referred to as being "set", "fixed", or "connected" to another feature, it may be directly set, fixed, or connected to the other feature, or it may be indirectly set, fixed, or connected to the other feature.

[0034] In the description of the present invention, if "several" is involved, it means one or more, if "multiple" is involved, it means more than two, if "greater than", "less than" or "exceed" is involved, it should be understood as not including the number itself, if "above", "below" or "within" is involved, it should be understood as including the number itself. If "first" or "second" is involved, it should be understood as being used to distinguish technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0035] In addition, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms and scientific terms used in the present invention have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art. The terms used in the present invention are only for describing specific embodiments, not for limiting the present invention.

[0036] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of a system for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders. Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the partial structure of an embodiment of the powder arrangement device and the second powder cylinder is shown in FIG. Figure 1 , 2 An embodiment of the present invention provides a system for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, including a laser scanning system 4 and an orderly arranging device for heterogeneous powders. The laser beam output by the laser scanning system 4 is used to sinter the powder arranged in the forming cylinder by the orderly arranging device for heterogeneous powders.

[0037] The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders includes a forming cylinder 16, a first powder cylinder 18, a second powder cylinder 13, a powder spreading device 19 and a powder arranging device, wherein:

[0038] The forming cylinder 16 is used for forming, the first powder cylinder 18 is used for containing the first powder 17, the second powder cylinder 13 is used for containing the second powder 11, and the powder spreading device 19 can spread the first powder 17 in the first powder cylinder 18 evenly to the forming cylinder 16;

[0039] The powder arrangement device includes an adsorption device 10 and a motion mechanism. The adsorption device 10 includes an arrangement hole plate 21, on which micropores are arranged in an orderly manner. The adsorption device 10 forms a set vacuum degree on the inner side of the arrangement hole plate 21 to adsorb the second powder 11 on the arrangement hole plate 21. The motion mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device 10 to move. The motion mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device 10 to move between the forming cylinder 16 and the second powder cylinder 13, so that the second powder 11 can be arranged in an orderly manner in the forming cylinder 16 according to the arrangement of the micropores.

[0040] The powder arrangement device also includes a second powder cylinder 13 and an air suction pipe 9. The second powder cylinder 13 is used to contain the second powder 11. The adsorption device 10 includes a shell 22. The shell 22 is provided with an air suction port 22-1 and an installation port 22-2. The arrangement orifice plate 21 is installed at the installation port and covers the installation port. The air suction pipe 9 is connected to the air suction port. The motion mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device 10 to move between the second powder cylinder 13 and the forming cylinder 16. The air suction pipe is used to connect the vacuum source to allow the adsorption device 10 to enter a vacuum. The vacuum source can be a vacuum pump 8. The air suction pipe 9 is used to connect the vacuum pump 8 and the shell 22. The adsorption and arrangement of the second powder 11 is achieved by controlling the switch of the vacuum pump 8. The control process is simple and reliable.

[0041] The outer surface of the arrangement orifice plate 21 is coplanar with the surface of the shell 22 located on one side of the arrangement orifice plate 21. The flat surface is more conducive to the adsorption of the second powder 11 and avoids dust. The arrangement orifice plate 21 is detachably connected to the shell 22. Therefore, different arrangement orifice plates 21 can be replaced according to needs to achieve a variety of orderly arrangements of the second powder 11. There are many ways of detachable connection. For example, the arrangement orifice plate 21 can be detachably installed by passing the locating pin 20 through the shell 22 and limiting the arrangement orifice plate 21 inside the shell 22; or, the locating pin 20 can also be replaced with a screw, a threaded hole is set on the arrangement orifice plate 21, and a corresponding mounting hole is set on the shell 22. The screw passes through the mounting hole and is screwed into the threaded hole on the arrangement orifice plate 21, thereby achieving detachable installation.

[0042] In some embodiments, a vibrator 12 may be provided on the second powder cylinder 13, and the vibrator 12 is used to vibrate the second powder 11 in the second powder cylinder 13, so that the second powder 11 can be fully adsorbed on the arrangement hole plate 21 through vibration. The vibrator 12 may be provided at the bottom of the second powder cylinder 13, so that uniform vibration of the second powder 11 in the second powder cylinder 13 can be achieved.

[0043] The inner side of the arrangement hole plate 21 is covered with a screen 21-1, and the through holes on the screen 21-1 are smaller than the micropores on the arrangement hole plate 21, so that the powder can be limited from being sucked into the adsorption device 10. One or more layers of the screen 21-1 can be provided as required.

[0044] The motion mechanism includes a Z-axis movable table 7, a Z-axis guide rail 6 and an X-axis guide rail 5. The Z-axis movable table 7 is slidably connected to the Z-axis guide rail 6, the Z-axis guide rail 6 is slidably connected to the X-axis guide rail 5, and the adsorption device 10 is directly or indirectly connected to the Z-axis movable table 7. Therefore, the adsorption device 10 can realize reciprocating motion along the three axes of X, Y and Z through the motion mechanism, which is convenient for the adsorption device 10 to take, transfer and arrange powder.

[0045] The micropores on the arrangement plate 21 have various shapes, structures and arrangements, which can be reasonably arranged according to specific needs. Some of the shapes, structures and arrangements are implemented as follows:

[0046] refer to Figure 6 , the shape of the micropores is implemented as follows: (1) the micropores can be a circular hole 21-4 structure with a regular shape; (2) the micropores are a special-shaped hole structure; the special-shaped holes can be elliptical holes 21-5, polygonal holes 21-6, etc.; (3) the micropores can be a combination of a regular hole structure and a special-shaped hole structure. The shape, inclination and deflection angle β of the micropores of the arrangement plate 21 can be selected and designed according to the particle shape and arrangement requirements.

[0047] refer to Figure 4 , 5 , the implementation method of the micropore structure: (1) the micropore can be a straight hole 21-2 structure; (2) refer to Figure 5 , the micropore is an inclined hole 21-3 structure; (3) the micropore is a combination of a straight hole 21-2 and an inclined hole 21-3.

[0048] refer to Figure 6 , Implementation method of the arrangement of micropores: any implementation method (1) to (3) of the shape of the micropores and any implementation method (1) to (3) of the structure of the micropores can be used for orderly arrangement. Figure 6 A variety of shapes are used for combination arrangement.

[0049] The powder spreading device 19 includes a scraper, which can reciprocate along the surface of the first powder cylinder 18 and the upper surface of the first powder cylinder 18 to make the surface of the first powder cylinder 18 and the upper surface of the forming cylinder 16 flush, so that the scraper can transfer the first powder 17 exposed to the top of the first powder cylinder 18 to the forming cylinder 16 and spread it in the forming cylinder 16. The first powder cylinder 18 includes a cylinder wall, a bottom plate and a moving device. The moving device can drive the bottom plate to rise or fall along the extension direction of the cylinder wall, so that powder can be continuously supplied to the top surface of the first powder cylinder 18, so that the powder spreading device 19 can continuously scrape and spread powder during the back and forth movement. A powder collecting cylinder 14 is also provided on the side of the forming cylinder 16, and the scraper can scrape excess powder into the powder collecting cylinder 14 to avoid affecting the quantitative arrangement of the powder.

[0050] The heterogeneous powder arrangement system further includes a numerical control system 1 and a laser scanning system 4 . The laser scanning system 4 is connected to the laser generator 2 through an optical fiber 3 and is also connected to the numerical control system 1 .

[0051] In the heterogeneous powder orderly arrangement system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the heterogeneous powder orderly arrangement device arranges the heterogeneous powders, and the laser beam output by the laser scanning system 4 is used to sinter the powders in the forming cylinder, so as to realize the orderly arrangement gradient forming of the heterogeneous powders, realize the quantitative distribution of different materials in the gradient material, and form a composite material with orderly arrangement of the second phase, which will have a huge positive impact on material development, tool manufacturing, and structural optimization. For example, a grinding wheel with orderly arrangement of abrasive particles can be formed to meet the personalized requirements of various industries for materials and structures. It can be used for orderly arrangement of heterogeneous powders in the selective laser cladding process.

[0052] The embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, based on the above-mentioned heterogeneous powder orderly arranging system, comprising the following steps:

[0053] S1. Laying a layer of the first powder 17 in the forming cylinder, turning on the laser scanning system to sinter the first powder 17;

[0054] S2. Laying the first powder 17 on the sintered powder layer;

[0055] S3. The second powder 11 is adsorbed on the arrangement plate 21 by the powder arrangement device and transferred to the top of the molding cylinder, and the second powder 11 is pressed into the first powder 17 laid in S3;

[0056] S4. Turn on the laser scanning system to sinter the powder layer formed in S4 according to the set trajectory;

[0057] S5. Repeat S1 to S4 for multiple times until the orderly arrangement structure of heterogeneous powders is formed.

[0058] During the S5 process, for the set number of S3 steps, the powder arrangement device with different arrangement holes 21 is replaced. Therefore, during the cyclic arrangement process, the arrangement method of the second powder 11 can be changed. Therefore, the position, orientation, inclination and deflection angle of the second powder 11 are determined by the array of micropores on the arrangement hole plate 21. The arrangement hole plate 21 can be replaced as needed to achieve different ordered structures, and the arrangement of the second powder 11 in different powder layers can be designed as needed.

[0059] In combination with the above-mentioned heterogeneous powder orderly arrangement system, the powder adsorption device 10 is first moved to the second powder cylinder 13 through the motion mechanism, and then the vacuum pump 8 is turned on to make the micropores of the arrangement hole plate 21 generate adsorption force. With the assistance of the vibrator 12, the second powder 11 is adsorbed on the arrangement hole plate 21, and then the powder adsorption device 10 is placed above the laid first powder 17 layer through the motion mechanism, and then the second powder 11 is pressed into the first powder 17 layer, and the vacuum pump 8 is turned off to achieve the orderly arrangement of the second powder 11 in the first powder 17 layer.

[0060] During the specific implementation process, you can refer to the following steps:

[0061] (1) The first powder 17 and the second powder 11 are loaded into the first powder cylinder 18 and the second powder cylinder 13 respectively, and the scraper spreads the first powder 17 on the substrate surface of the forming cylinder 16, while the powder collecting cylinder 14 recovers the excess powder, and then the laser is used to sinter the powder material according to the slicing track to complete the first layer printing;

[0062] (2) The forming cylinder 16 moves the base plate downward by one layer height, the moving device of the first powder cylinder 18 moves the base plate upward by one layer height, and the scraper again lays a layer of first powder 17 on the printed first layer material.

[0063] (3) placing the powder adsorption device 10 in the second powder cylinder 13 and making full contact with the second powder 11, turning on the vibrator 12 to vibrate the second powder 11, and turning on the vacuum pump 8 to generate adsorption force, so that the second powder 11 is adsorbed in the micropores of the arrangement plate 21;

[0064] (4) the numerical control system 1 controls the Z-axis moving table 7 to move along the Z-axis guide rail 6 and the X-axis guide rail 5 to above the forming cylinder 16, and then presses the adsorbed second powder 11 downward into the laid first powder 17 layer;

[0065] (5) Turn off the vacuum pump 8 and reset the powder adsorption device 10, and start the laser sintering according to the trajectory;

[0066] Repeat the process of step (3) to step (5) until the orderly arrangement structure of the heterogeneous powders is formed.

[0067] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention have the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0068] (1) The second powder 11 can be accurately arranged, and the position, orientation, inclination and deflection angle of the second powder 11 particles can be controlled to achieve orderly arrangement of heterogeneous powders in three-dimensional space and form a structure in which heterogeneous powders are orderly arranged;

[0069] (2) Not only can the structure be customized, but also the material properties can be customized.

[0070] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Those skilled in the art may make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without violating the spirit of the present invention. These equivalent modifications or substitutions are all included in the scope defined by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, characterized in that: It includes a forming cylinder, a first powder cylinder, a powder spreading device, a second powder cylinder and a powder arranging device, wherein: The molding cylinder is used for molding, the first powder cylinder is used for containing a first powder, and the second powder cylinder is used for containing a second powder; The powder spreading device can evenly spread the first powder in the first powder cylinder to the forming cylinder; The powder arrangement device comprises an adsorption device and a motion mechanism, wherein the adsorption device comprises an arrangement hole plate, and micropores are orderly arranged on the arrangement hole plate, and the adsorption device is used to adsorb the second powder on the arrangement hole plate, and the motion mechanism is used to drive the adsorption device to move between the forming cylinder and the second powder cylinder, and press the adsorbed second powder into the laid first powder layer; The motion mechanism includes a Z-axis moving table, a Z-axis guide rail and an X-axis guide rail. The Z-axis moving table is slidably connected to the Z-axis guide rail, the Z-axis guide rail is slidably connected to the X-axis guide rail, and the adsorption device is directly or indirectly connected to the Z-axis moving table.

2. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The powder arrangement device also includes an air suction pipe, the adsorption device includes a shell, the shell is provided with an air suction port and an installation port, the arrangement orifice plate is installed at the installation port and covers the installation port, the air suction pipe is connected to the air suction port, and the air suction pipe is used to connect to a vacuum source.

3. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 2, characterized in that: The outer surface of the arrangement hole plate is coplanar with the surface of the shell located on one side of the arrangement hole plate.

4. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 2, characterized in that: The arrangement hole plate is detachably connected to the shell.

5. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second powder cylinder is provided with a vibrator, and the vibrator is used to vibrate the second powder in the second powder cylinder.

6. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner side of the arrangement hole plate is covered with a screen, and the through holes on the screen are smaller in shape than the micropores.

7. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The micropores are pore structures with regular shapes, or the micropores are irregular pore structures, or the micropores are a combination of pore structures with regular shapes and irregular pore structures.

8. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The micropores are straight holes or oblique holes; or, the micropores are a combination of straight holes and oblique holes.

9. The device for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first powder cylinder comprises a cylinder wall, a bottom plate and a moving device, and the moving device can drive the bottom plate to rise or fall along the extension direction of the cylinder wall.

10. A system for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, characterized by: It comprises a laser scanning system and the heterogeneous powder orderly arrangement device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the laser beam output by the laser scanning system is used to sinter the powder in the forming cylinder.

11. A method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders, characterized in that: The system for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 10 comprises the following steps: S1. Laying a layer of the first powder on the forming cylinder, turning on the laser scanning system to sinter the first powder; S2. Laying the first powder on the sintered powder layer; S3. The second powder is adsorbed on the arrangement hole plate by the powder arrangement device, and transferred to the top of the forming cylinder, and the second powder is pressed into the first powder laid in S2; S4. Turn on the laser scanning system to sinter the powder layer formed in S3 according to the set trajectory; S5. Repeat S1 to S4 for multiple times until the orderly arrangement structure of heterogeneous powders is formed.

12. The method for orderly arranging heterogeneous powders according to claim 11, characterized in that: In the process of S5, for a set number of steps S3, the powder arrangement device having a plate with different arrangement holes is replaced.

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