Additive Manufacturing Parameter Control for Surface Roughness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing additive manufacturing processes struggle to consistently achieve desired surface roughness in components, particularly in tightly toleranced parts like aircraft components, due to variations in layer depth and other manufacturing parameters, leading to unacceptable surface roughness and significant waste from iterative prototype creation.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that automatically determine and adjust additive manufacturing parameters by calculating nominal and second-order variations in surface roughness, using probabilistic, mechanistic, or physics-based distributions to predict and compensate for surface roughness deviations, allowing for iterative refinement without manual prototype checking.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If traditional additive manufacturing processes are used with fixed layer depth parameters, then the manufacturing process is simple and fast, but the surface roughness varies and falls outside desired tolerances

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesurface roughness controlVSAvoidparameter adjustment complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary calculations of nominal and second-order variations in surface roughness before manufacturing begins. By pre-determining the impact of parameter variations on surface quality, the system can proactively adjust parameters to compensate for expected deviations, ensuring surface roughness stays within tolerances without requiring complex real-time adjustments or manual prototype iterations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts additive manufacturing parameters based on calculated variations. By modifying parameters such as layer depth, scan speed, or power settings in response to predicted surface roughness deviations, the system maintains manufacturing precision without requiring overly complex device modifications. The parameter adjustments are made systematically based on variation models rather than trial-and-error approaches.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Manufacturing precision

If iterative prototype creation is used to achieve desired surface roughness, then manufacturing precision improves, but time consumption and material waste increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesurface roughness tolerance complianceVSAvoiditerative prototype development time

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates a virtual model of the additive manufacturing process that simulates surface roughness outcomes. By using computational models to predict surface quality before physical manufacturing, the system eliminates the need for multiple physical prototype iterations, saving time and material while maintaining precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Manufacturing precision

If iterative prototype creation is used to achieve desired surface roughness, then manufacturing precision improves, but material waste increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesurface roughness tolerance complianceVSAvoidmaterial waste from rejected prototypes

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

4Manufacturing precision

If traditional additive manufacturing assumes fixed layer depth, then the process is simple to control, but variations in layer depth alter surface roughness even when dimensional tolerances are met

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesurface roughness consistencyVSAvoidparameter monitoring and adjustment system

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements a feedback mechanism where surface roughness variations are measured and used to adjust manufacturing parameters. By continuously monitoring surface quality outcomes and feeding this information back into the parameter control system, the system maintains consistent surface roughness across parts while managing device complexity through systematic rather than ad-hoc adjustments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3026516B1System and process for evaluating and manufacturing additively manufactured components

Publication Date: 2023.04.26 UNITED TECH CORP

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Figure 3~4

AI summary

An exemplary method (200) for determining a set of additive manufacturing parameters includes, a) determining a nominal parameter of at least one surface (20, 30, 40, 50; 120, 130, 140, 150) of a component (10; 100), b) determining at least a second order variation in the nominal parameter, c) predicting an actual resultant dimension based at least in part on the nominal parameter and the second order variation, and d) adjusting at least one additive manufacturing process parameter in response to the predicted actual resultant dimension.