Additive Manufacturing System with Extended Printing Volume
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Solution Overview
Problem
Additive manufacturing systems face challenges in printing large or tall 3D parts due to limited printing volume and instability issues, such as sagging or wobbling, which affect printing accuracy and quality.
Innovation Solution
The system includes a heated chamber with a port that allows the print foundation and growing 3D part to exit, along with the use of scaffolds that laterally brace the part to prevent sagging and wobbling, enabling the printing of long or tall parts beyond the system's dimensions and maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the chamber size is increased to print larger parts, then the printable volume is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The printing process is divided into multiple segments where the print foundation is indexed incrementally through the port after each layer is printed. This allows the printable length to exceed the chamber dimension by processing the part in sequential segments rather than requiring the entire chamber to accommodate the full part length.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from a static three-dimensional chamber volume constraint to a dynamic process that extends in the printing direction dimension. By indexing the print foundation through the port along the printing axis, the effective printable volume is extended beyond the physical chamber boundaries in one dimension.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the part length is increased beyond chamber dimensions, then the product versatility is improved, but the printing stability deteriorates due to sagging and wobbling
Solution Approach 1:
Support structures are printed preliminarily alongside the main part during the printing process to provide immediate lateral bracing. This preliminary action prevents sagging and wobbling as the part grows, maintaining printing stability even as the part extends beyond chamber dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
Support structures act as intermediary elements that laterally brace the main part during printing. These intermediaries provide the necessary structural support to prevent instability, allowing the main part to extend beyond the chamber while maintaining printing accuracy.
3Device complexity
If the print foundation is stationary, then the device complexity is reduced, but the printable length is limited by the chamber dimension
Solution Approach 1:
The print foundation transitions from a stationary component to a dynamically indexable component that moves incrementally through the port along the printing axis. This dynamic capability allows the printable length to extend beyond the chamber dimension while adding only minimal device complexity through the indexing mechanism.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution expands the printable volume, allowing for the creation of larger 3D parts like airfoils and manifolds, and improves printing accuracy by stabilizing the parts during the process, reducing distortions and curling, and enabling continuous printing of successive parts.
Implementation Method 1
a heating mechanism configured to heat the chamber to one or more temperatures
Data Source
AI summary
An additive manufacturing system for printing three-dimensional parts, the system comprising a heatable chamber with a port, a print foundation, a print head configured to print a three-dimensional part onto the print foundation in a layer-by-layer manner along a printing axis, and a drive mechanism configured to index the print foundation along the printing axis such that, while the print head prints the three-dimensional part, the print foundation and at least a portion of the three-dimensional part pass through the port and out of the heated chamber.