Movable Heating Element for Additive Manufacturing Temperature Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for generative production of three-dimensional objects by layered application and selective solidification of building materials face challenges in achieving uniform temperature distribution, leading to inhomogeneities that affect the quality of the manufactured objects.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that incorporate a movable heating element with adjustable heat output, coordinated with the movement of the coater and solidification device, to introduce thermal energy locally and compensate for temperature distribution inhomogeneities, using radiation and induction heating, ensuring the building material is preheated and solidified uniformly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a heating device is introduced to improve temperature distribution, then temperature homogeneity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A heating element is introduced as an intermediary component between the coating device and the solidification device. This heating element acts as a mediator to transfer thermal energy to the build material, ensuring uniform temperature distribution before solidification occurs, thereby resolving the temperature homogeneity issue while maintaining a relatively simple device architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating element performs preliminary heating of the build material layer before the solidification step. By pre-heating the material to the required temperature uniformly across the build area, the system ensures that subsequent solidification occurs under optimal thermal conditions, improving temperature distribution homogeneity without requiring complex real-time temperature control during solidification.
2Manufacturing precision
If the heating power is varied by position, then manufacturing precision is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element is designed with spatially varying heating characteristics, where different regions of the heating element emit different amounts of thermal energy. This local quality approach ensures that areas requiring more heat receive higher heating power, while areas needing less heat receive correspondingly lower power, achieving uniform temperature distribution across the build area and improving manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating element's thermal output parameter is varied as a function of position. By changing the heating power parameter spatially, the system compensates for heat loss variations across the build area, ensuring consistent temperature distribution. This parameter change approach improves manufacturing precision through a relatively simple control strategy.
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 enhances the reproducibility and quality of the manufacturing process by improving temperature distribution homogeneity, allowing for faster heating of newly applied layers and preventing cooling issues, resulting in improved three-dimensional object quality.
Implementation Method 1
local heating is achieved by means of radiation
Implementation Method 2
local heating is additionally achieved by means of induction
Implementation Method 3
the build material in each layer is selectively solidified by selectively irradiating corresponding areas of a cross-section of the object being manufactured with a laser beam
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2d
Figure 3a~3e
AI summary
A manufacturing process for the additive production of a three-dimensional object (2) by layer-by-layer application and selective solidification of a build material (15) comprises the steps of applying a layer of the build material (15) to a build area (8) using a coating device (16) and selectively solidifying the applied layer of the build material (15) at locations corresponding to a cross-section of the object (2) to be produced using a solidification device (20). The application and solidification steps are repeated until the three-dimensional object (2) is completed. A heating element (17), moved across the build area in one direction and separate from the solidification device (20), locally introduces heat energy into the newly applied layer of the build material (15) and/or into the layer of the build material (15) that has already been selectively solidified.The heat energy emitted by the heating element (17) at a point on the building area (8) is adjustable depending on the position of this point on the building area (8).