Indirect Additive Manufacturing Using Difunctional Curable Monomers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Indirect 3D printing processes face challenges such as lengthy thermal curing cycles, high production costs, and mechanical integrity issues with binders used in conventional methods, leading to increased processing time and equipment requirements.
Innovation Solution
The use of difunctional curable monomers and adhesive polymers in binder jetting processes, which involve selectively dispensing these binders into a powder bed to form a preform that can be cured or sintered, reducing the need for thermal curing and enhancing the mechanical strength of the final product.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional binders are used in indirect 3D printing, then the binder can be easily dispensed and processed, but the curing cycle becomes lengthy and the mechanical strength of cured parts is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the binder by using difunctional curable monomers with specific molecular structures and reactivity. This allows the binder to cure rapidly while achieving high mechanical strength, directly resolving the contradiction between curing time and part strength
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite binder system combining difunctional curable monomers with specific reactivity ratios. This composite material approach enables both rapid curing and high mechanical strength properties that neither component could achieve alone
2Reliability
If thermal curing cycles are used to cure binders, then the binder sets and binds particles, but the processing time increases and additional equipment is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal curing mechanisms with chemical curing mechanisms using difunctional curable monomers. This substitution eliminates the need for thermal curing equipment while maintaining reliable binder setting and binding capabilities through chemical reaction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the curing mechanism from thermal to chemical by selecting monomers with appropriate reactivity and functional groups. This parameter change allows curing to occur without thermal processing equipment, reducing device complexity while maintaining binding reliability
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional binder jetting processes are used, then the process can be implemented with standard equipment, but the production cost is high and processing time is lengthy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the binder chemistry parameters to use difunctional curable monomers that cure rapidly at room temperature or with minimal energy input. This maintains ease of manufacture with standard equipment while dramatically improving productivity by reducing curing time and energy costs
Solution Approach 2:
The difunctional curable monomers are designed to self-cure through chemical reaction without requiring external thermal processing equipment or complex curing cycles. This self-service capability maintains process simplicity while improving production efficiency and reducing costs
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 results in parts with substantial resilience, produced in the same or less time and cost than conventional methods, with reduced equipment requirements and improved mechanical strength, addressing the limitations of conventional binder jetting processes.
Implementation Method 1
dispensing selectively positioned droplets of the difunctional curable monomer, from a printhead of the additive manufacturing device, into a bed of the powder to bind particles of the powder with the difunctional curable monomer
Implementation Method 2
curing the curable preform to form a crosslinked object
Data Source
AI summary
A method for indirect additive manufacturing of an object, the method comprising: (i) separately feeding a powder from which said object is to be manufactured and either a difunctional curable monomer according to Formula (I) or an adhesive polymer binder into an additive manufacturing device; (ii) dispensing selectively positioned droplets of said difunctional curable monomer or adhesive polymer binder, from a printhead of said additive manufacturing device, into a bed of said powder to bind particles of said powder with said difunctional curable monomer or adhesive polymer binder to produce a curable preform having a shape of the object to be manufactured; and, in the case of the difunctional curable monomer, (iii) curing said curable preform to form a crosslinked object.