Grain Size Control in Layerwise Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing layerwise production processes for complex geometries often result in overstressing of materials at highly loaded locations, leading to reduced load-bearing capacity or local failure, and fail to reproducibly achieve desired strength reductions in specific regions.
Innovation Solution
The process involves altering one or more production parameters, such as layer thickness and radiation intensity, to control grain size in specific regions, ensuring uniform or varied grain sizes based on geometrical data, thereby optimizing material properties and strength levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If conventional layerwise production processes are used to produce complex geometries, then manufacturing complexity and time are reduced, but material overstressing occurs at highly loaded locations leading to reduced load-bearing capacity or local failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different grain sizes to different regions of the product based on their functional requirements. Highly loaded regions are given larger grain sizes to reduce stress concentration and improve load-bearing capacity, while less loaded regions can have smaller grain sizes. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by tailoring material properties to specific locations rather than using uniform properties throughout.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the grain size parameter during the layerwise production process by adjusting processing parameters such as layer thickness, radiation intensity, or heating rates. This dynamic parameter adjustment allows the material structure to be optimized at different stages of production, preventing overstressing in highly loaded regions while maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
2Productivity
If conventional layerwise production processes are used, then production time is reduced, but desired strength reductions in specific regions cannot be reproducibly achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality differentiation by applying specific processing conditions to specific regions. Desired strength reductions are achieved reproducibly by targeting particular regions with adjusted parameters such as reduced radiation intensity or modified layer thickness, allowing precise control over where and how much the material strength is reduced.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs feedback mechanisms to monitor and control the grain size development during production. By monitoring parameters such as temperature, radiation dose, or layer hardening progress, the system can adjust processing conditions in real-time to ensure desired strength reductions are achieved reproducibly in specific regions without compromising overall production time.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform grain size is produced throughout the product, then manufacturing process is simple, but material properties are inadequate in regions requiring varied strength levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from uniform to non-uniform grain size distribution by applying different processing conditions to different regions. This local quality approach ensures that material properties are adequate for each region's specific requirements while maintaining a relatively simple layerwise production process that can be guided by geometric data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustment of processing parameters during the layerwise production process. Rather than using fixed uniform parameters, the system dynamically adjusts grain size characteristics based on the current layer's location, thickness, and the functional requirements of the region being processed, enabling varied material properties without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
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 approach allows for the production of products with consistent or varied grain sizes, enhancing mechanical properties, load-bearing capacity, and enabling controlled rupture locations, particularly suitable for complex geometries and dental products.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid hardenable material which for example can be selectively hardened by photopolymerisation by means of a laser beam
Implementation Method 2
hardening by a laser beam being passed over that region
Implementation Method 3
which can be hardened by a chemical crosslinking reaction or a physical combining operation, for example fusing or sintering
Implementation Method 4
which can be hardened by a chemical crosslinking reaction or a physical combining operation, for example fusing or sintering
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns a process for the layerwise production of a product comprising the steps of applying a layer of a hardenable material, wherein for example the process parameters of layer thickness and layer material are adjustable, selectively hardening predetermined regions of the applied layer on the basis of the geometrical data of the product, wherein for example the process parameters for the nature and level of the energy input are adjustable, repeating those steps until the geometry of the product has been produced in the form of hardened material, and finally removing the non-hardened material. Known processes suffer from the disadvantage that they do not afford variability in regard to the local properties of the product. The invention remedies that disadvantage insofar as at least one process parameter is altered during the production procedure in order to influence the grain size in a first region of the product in relation to a second region of the product.