Additive manufacturing device and method based on directional energy deposition

Abstract

The invention relates to an additive manufacturing device and method based on directional energy deposition, and belongs to the field of additive manufacturing equipment. Comprising a six-axis mechanical arm, a linear module, a positioner and a printing platform. The printing platform is installed on the positioner, the positioner is fixedly installed on a sliding block of the linear module, the six-axis mechanical arm is arranged on one side of the linear module, and a deposition head is arranged at the tail end of the six-axis mechanical arm; a first rotating body is rotationally installed on the base, a second rotating body is rotationally installed at one end of the first rotating body, and the printing platform is arranged at the upper end of the second rotating body. During additive manufacturing, the deposition head is moved to a designated position through the six-axis mechanical arm, then the deposition head is kept still, additive manufacturing of one slice layer is completed through cooperative action of the positioner and the linear module, then the deposition head is moved to another designated position through the six-axis mechanical arm, and the steps are repeated continuously; and the additive manufacturing speed is effectively increased.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of additive manufacturing equipment, and in particular to an additive manufacturing device and method based on directed energy deposition. Background Art

[0002] Directed energy deposition additive manufacturing technology is based on the "discrete-accumulation" principle. With the help of digital models, powder materials are distributed to designated positions in space in a timely and quantitative manner to construct arbitrary three-dimensional entities. It belongs to the field of intelligent manufacturing technology. Directed energy deposition with laser as the heat source is a mainstream additive manufacturing technology. When it is applied to the additive manufacturing of large components, the deposition efficiency is seriously restricted due to the low scanning speed (less than or equal to 50.00mm / s). When the scanning speed (that is, the movement speed of the deposition head) is too high, the powder spot and the light spot cannot overlap in the traditional directed energy deposition process that only relies on the movement of the deposition head, because the powder beam is subject to greater air resistance, the deposition is interrupted or even impossible. Therefore, how to increase the scanning speed while ensuring the excellent forming quality of the deposited components needs to be broken through.

[0003] The traditional directed energy deposition method relies on the movement of the deposition head to achieve additive manufacturing. The speed of additive manufacturing is improved by optimizing the deposition head structure and adjusting the process parameters. This method can improve the scanning speed to a certain extent while ensuring the excellent forming quality of the deposited components, but the improvement is extremely limited, and it still takes a lot of time to form large components. At present, ultra-high-speed additive manufacturing of rotating components can be achieved by keeping the deposition head position unchanged and through the high-speed movement of the horizontal rotation axis of the positioner, but the scanning speed is still severely limited when forming special-shaped components.

[0004] Patent ZL201620046795.4 discloses an additive manufacturing device for forming a rotating body. The device achieves the goal of rapid additive manufacturing of the rotating body through the high-speed rotation of the rotating disk. However, when forming special-shaped components, the scanning speed is still severely limited. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to solve or partially solve the problems existing in the related art, the present invention provides an additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition, aiming to solve the technical problem that only the deposition head of the traditional additive manufacturing equipment can move.

[0006] An additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition comprises a six-axis robotic arm, a linear module, a positioner, and a printing platform; the printing platform is mounted on the positioner, the positioner is fixedly mounted on a slider of the linear module, the six-axis robotic arm is arranged on one side of the linear module, and a deposition head is arranged at the end of the six-axis robotic arm;

[0007] The positioner includes a base, a first rotating body, a first driving motor, a second rotating body, a second driving motor, and a printing platform; a base is provided on the slider of the linear module, and a mounting portion extending vertically upward is constructed on the base, and a first rotating body is rotatably mounted on the mounting portion, the first rotating body is horizontally arranged and perpendicular to the linear module, one end of the first rotating body is connected to an output shaft of a first driving motor mounted on the mounting portion, and a second rotating body is rotatably mounted on the other end, the second rotating body is vertically arranged, and a lower end of the second rotating body is connected to an output shaft of a second driving motor mounted on the first rotating body, and the printing platform is arranged at the upper end of the second rotating body.

[0008] In some embodiments, the six-axis robot arm includes a base, a waist rotation arm, a swinging upper arm, a swinging lower arm, a wrist circular rotation arm, and a wrist swinging arm;

[0009] A waist swivel arm that can rotate on a horizontal plane is rotatably mounted on the base; one end of the swing arm is rotatably connected to the base, and the other end is rotatably connected to the swing arm; a wrist circular rotation arm is rotatably mounted on the swing arm, and a wrist swing arm is rotatably mounted on the end of the wrist circular rotation arm;

[0010] The deposition head is mounted on the wrist swing arm.

[0011] A directed energy deposition-based additive manufacturing method, using the directed energy deposition-based additive manufacturing device to perform additive manufacturing, the specific steps are:

[0012] S1: Establish a three-dimensional visual digital model of the sedimentary structure;

[0013] S2: Slice the designed 3D digital model and perform path planning with the help of slicing software;

[0014] S3: Control the six-axis robot to move the deposition head to the specified position;

[0015] S4: According to the pre-set scanning path and scanning speed, the positioner and linear module are controlled to move; the two cooperate with each other to complete ultra-high-speed additive manufacturing.

[0016] The technical solution provided by the present invention may include the following beneficial effects:

[0017] This application uses a six-axis robot to move the deposition head to a specified position, and then keeps the deposition head stationary, and the positioner and the linear module coordinate to achieve additive manufacturing of a slice layer. Then the six-axis robot moves the deposition head to another specified position to complete the additive manufacturing of another slice layer, and repeats the above process until the additive manufacturing of the corresponding construction is completed. During the additive manufacturing process, the deposition head remains stationary, which effectively ensures the overlap of the powder spot and the light spot during the additive manufacturing process, so that the device can perform high-speed additive manufacturing, thereby increasing the speed of building additive manufacturing.

[0018] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent through a more detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals generally represent like components throughout the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an additive manufacturing device shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 is a scanning path diagram of an additive manufacturing device when performing additive manufacturing shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Reference numerals:

[0023] 1. Positioner; 101. Base; 102. First rotating body; 103. First driving motor; 104. Second rotating body; 105. Second driving motor; 2. Six-axis robotic arm; 201. Base; 202. Waist rotating arm; 203. Swinging upper arm; 204. Swinging lower arm; 205. Wrist circular rotating arm; 206. Wrist swinging arm; 3. Linear module; 4. Printing platform; 5. Deposition head. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the described contents.

[0025] Embodiment 1:

[0026] See also Figure 1The present application provides an additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition, including a six-axis robot 2, a linear module 3, a positioner 1, and a printing platform 4; the printing platform 4 is installed on the positioner 1, the positioner 1 is fixedly installed on the slider of the linear module 3, the six-axis robot 2 is arranged on one side of the linear module 3, and a deposition head 5 is provided at the end of the six-axis robot 2; when performing additive manufacturing, the deposition head 5 is moved to a specified position by the six-axis robot 2, and then the deposition head 5 is kept stationary, the positioner 1 and the linear module 3 coordinate actions to realize the additive manufacturing of a slice layer, and then the six-axis robot 2 moves the deposition head 5 to another specified position to complete the additive manufacturing of another slice layer, and the above process is repeated until the additive manufacturing of the corresponding construction is completed. During the additive manufacturing process, the deposition head 5 remains stationary, which effectively ensures the overlap of the powder spot and the light spot during the additive manufacturing process, so that the device can perform high-speed additive manufacturing, thereby improving the speed of constructing additive manufacturing.

[0027] In order to clearly describe the working process of this application and the installation relationship of each structure, the moving direction of the slider of the linear module 3 is defined as the X-axis, the direction perpendicular to the X-axis on the horizontal plane is positioned as the Y-axis, and the vertical direction is defined as the Z-axis.

[0028] In this embodiment, the positioner 1 includes a base 101, a first rotating body 102, a first driving motor 103, a second rotating body 104, and a second driving motor 105; a base 101 is provided on the slider of the linear module 3, and a mounting portion extending vertically upward is constructed on the base 101, and a first rotating body 102 is rotatably mounted on the mounting portion. The first rotating body 102 is horizontally arranged and perpendicular to the linear module 3, that is, the rotation axis of the first rotating body 102 is parallel to the Y axis; one end of the first rotating body 102 is connected to the output shaft of the first driving motor 103 mounted on the mounting portion, so that when the first driving motor 103 rotates, it can drive the first The rotating body 102 rotates; the second rotating body 104 is rotatably installed on the other end of the first rotating body 102, and the second rotating body 104 is vertically arranged, that is, the rotation axis of the second rotating body 104 is parallel to the Z axis; the lower end of the second rotating body 104 is connected to the output shaft of the second driving motor 105 installed on the first rotating body 102, so that when the second driving motor 105 rotates, it can drive the second rotating body 104 to rotate; the upper end of the second rotating body 104 is provided with a printing platform 4; in this way, through the positioner 1, the printing platform 4 can move along the X axis, rotate around the Y axis, and rotate around the Z axis. The positioner 1 has a high degree of freedom, which is conducive to the additive manufacturing of special-shaped components.

[0029] In this embodiment, the six-axis robot arm 2 includes a base 201, a waist rotating arm 202, a swinging arm 203, a swinging arm 204, a wrist circular rotating arm 205, and a wrist swinging arm 206; the base 201 is rotatably mounted with a waist rotating arm 202, and the waist rotating arm 202 can rotate on a horizontal plane, that is, the waist rotating arm 202 can rotate around the Z axis; one end of the swinging arm 203 is rotatably connected to the base 201, and the rotation axis of the swinging arm 203 is parallel to the X axis; the other end of the swinging arm 203 is rotatably connected to the swinging arm 204, The rotation axis of the swing arm 204 is parallel to the X-axis; the wrist circular rotation arm 205 is rotatably mounted on the swing arm 204, and the rotation axis of the wrist circular rotation arm 205 is parallel to the extension direction of the swing arm 204; the end of the wrist circular rotation arm 205 is rotatably mounted with a wrist swing arm 206, and the rotation axis of the wrist swing arm 206 is parallel to the X-axis; the deposition head 5 is mounted on the wrist swing arm 206; in this way, through the six-axis manipulator 2 with a high degree of freedom, the deposition head 5 can be moved to any desired position, and the position adjustment of the deposition head 5 is relatively flexible. It can be imagined that the corresponding positions of the waist rotating arm 202, the swinging arm 203, the swing arm 204, the wrist circular rotation arm 205 or the wrist swing arm 206 are all equipped with corresponding drive motors to realize the movement of the manipulator.

[0030] Embodiment 2:

[0031] The present application also provides an additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition. The additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition described in the first embodiment is used to perform additive manufacturing. The specific steps are as follows:

[0032] S1: Establish a three-dimensional visual digital model of the sedimentary structure;

[0033] S2: Slice the designed 3D digital model and perform path planning with the help of slicing software;

[0034] S3: Control the six-axis robot 2 to move the deposition head 5 to a specified position;

[0035] S4: According to the preset scanning path and scanning speed, the positioner 1 and the linear module 3 are controlled to move; and ultra-high-speed additive manufacturing is completed.

[0036] This embodiment takes the laser directed energy deposition stainless steel square cylinder structure as an example, and an additive manufacturing method based on directed energy deposition includes the following steps:

[0037] (1) Establish a three-dimensional visual digital model of the square tube structure; the specific size is 1000.00mm×1000.00mm×500.00mm;

[0038] (2) Slice the designed 3D digital model and perform path planning with the help of slicing software; Figure 2 The scan path shown;

[0039] (3) Select the ultra-high-speed additive manufacturing mode. According to the two pre-set process parameters (scanning path and scanning speed), the motion process of the positioner 1 and the linear module 3 is set by the motion control module of the positioner 1 and the motion control module of the linear module 3. Specifically, if the scanning speed is 500.00 mm / s, the motion speed of the linear module 3 is set to 500.00 mm / s. Figure 2 The scanning path shown in the figure, the movement process steps of the positioner 1 and the linear module 3 are as follows: ① The positioner 1 moves 1000.00mm along the negative direction of the X-axis of the track under the action of the linear module 3; ② The positioner 1 rotates 90° clockwise through the horizontal rotation axis, and then moves 1000.00mm along the positive direction of the X-axis of the track under the action of the linear module 3; ③ The positioner 1 rotates 90° clockwise through the horizontal rotation axis, and then moves 1000.00mm along the negative direction of the X-axis of the track under the action of the linear module 3; ④ The positioner 1 rotates 90° clockwise through the horizontal rotation axis, and then moves 1000.00mm along the positive direction of the X-axis of the track under the action of the linear module 3;

[0040] (4) adjusting the six-axis robot 2 through the robot motion control module to move the deposition head 5 to a specified position;

[0041] (5) Conducting a directed energy deposition experiment, keeping the deposition head 5 in a constant position, and completing ultra-high-speed additive manufacturing through the cooperation between the positioner 1 and the linear module 3;

[0042] (6) Setting of other process parameters and selection of materials: 99.99% argon is used as the shielding gas, the laser power is 3000W, the powder feeding rate is 70.0g / min, and the gas flow rate is 15.0L / min; the deposition material is 304L stainless steel powder, and the powder particle size is between 15-150μm; the additive manufacturing platform uses a stainless steel plate of 1200.00mm×1200.00mm×20.00mm. The above embodiments of the present invention have been described, and the above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and changes are obvious to ordinary technicians in the field of technology without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The choice of terms used in this article is intended to best explain the principles, practical applications or improvements to the technology in the market of each embodiment, or to enable other ordinary technicians in the field of technology to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition, characterized in that: It comprises a six-axis robot arm (2), a linear module (3), a positioner (1), and a printing platform (4); the printing platform (4) is mounted on the positioner (1), the positioner (1) is fixedly mounted on a slider of the linear module (3), the six-axis robot arm (2) is arranged on one side of the linear module (3), and a deposition head (5) is arranged at the end of the six-axis robot arm (2); The positioner (1) comprises a base (101), a first rotating body (102), a first driving motor (103), a second rotating body (104), a second driving motor (105), and a printing platform (4); A base (101) is provided on the slider of the linear module (3), and a mounting portion extending vertically upward is constructed on the base (101), and a first rotating body (102) is rotatably mounted on the mounting portion. The first rotating body (102) is horizontally arranged and perpendicular to the linear module (3). One end of the first rotating body (102) is connected to the output shaft of a first driving motor (103) installed on the mounting portion, and a second rotating body (104) is rotatably mounted on the other end. The second rotating body (104) is vertically arranged, and the lower end of the second rotating body (104) is connected to the output shaft of a second driving motor (105) installed on the first rotating body (102). The printing platform (4) is arranged at the upper end of the second rotating body (104).

2. The additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition according to claim 1, characterized in that: The six-axis mechanical arm (2) comprises a base (201), a waist rotating arm (202), a swinging upper arm (203), a swinging lower arm (204), a wrist circular rotating arm (205), and a wrist swinging arm (206); A waist rotating arm (202) rotatably mounted on the base (201) and rotatable on a horizontal plane; one end of the swinging arm (203) is rotatably connected to the base (201), and the other end is rotatably connected to the swinging small arm (204); a wrist circular rotating arm (205) is rotatably mounted on the swinging small arm (204), and a wrist swinging arm (206) is rotatably mounted on the end of the wrist circular rotating arm (205); The deposition head is mounted on the wrist swing arm (206).

3. An additive manufacturing method based on directed energy deposition, characterized in that: The additive manufacturing device based on directed energy deposition according to claim 1 or 2 is used for additive manufacturing, and the specific steps are: S1: Establish a three-dimensional visual digital model of the sedimentary structure; S2: Slice the designed 3D digital model and perform path planning with the help of slicing software; S3: Control the six-axis robot arm (2) to move the deposition head (5) to a specified position; S4: According to the pre-set scanning path and scanning speed, the positioner (1) and the linear module (3) are controlled to move; the two cooperate with each other to complete the additive manufacturing.

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