Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
  • B29C64/10—Processes of additive manufacturing
  • B29C64/106—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
  • B29C64/118—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM]
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C59/00—Surface shaping of articles, e.g. embossing; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C59/16—Surface shaping of articles, e.g. embossing; Apparatus therefor by wave energy or particle radiation, e.g. infrared heating
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
  • B29C64/10—Processes of additive manufacturing
  • B29C64/106—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
  • B29C64/124—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material using layers of liquid which are selectively solidified
  • B29C64/129—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material using layers of liquid which are selectively solidified characterised by the energy source therefor, e.g. by global irradiation combined with a mask
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
  • B29C64/20—Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
  • B29C64/264—Arrangements for irradiation
  • B29C64/268—Arrangements for irradiation using laser beams; using electron beams [EB]
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
  • B29C64/20—Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
  • B29C64/295—Heating elements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
  • B29C64/30—Auxiliary operations or equipment
  • B29C64/386—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
  • B29C64/393—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
  • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
  • B33Y40/00—Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
  • B33Y40/20—Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
  • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
  • B33Y10/00—Processes of additive manufacturing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
  • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
  • B33Y30/00—Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
  • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
  • B33Y40/00—Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for the additive manufacturing of components by means of material extrusion, in which the components are built up in layers from a component material that is applied layer by layer in a viscous state to a carrier.
• Material extrusion (MEx) technology is currently the most widespread additive manufacturing technology.
• the component material is typically supplied in the form of wire or granules, heated to high temperatures and, in a molten or viscous state, is usually applied in layers to a carrier via a nozzle in order to build up the component.
• the main advantages of this technology are the simple structure of the system technology, a large selection of materials and the freedom of design compared to conventional production technologies.
• the technology of material extrusion is therefore used for the production of components in almost all branches of industry.
• the component In vibratory finishing, the component is machined using loose abrasive grains.
• the abrasive grains and components are set in an undefined relative movement to each other in a common treatment room. Because of this
• the surface roughness of additively manufactured components can be reduced by up to 80 to 90% on the outer surfaces.
• surface areas that are difficult to access are only insufficiently covered by the abrasive grains, which means that these areas experience less surface roughness reduction.
• this process usually creates undesired roundings on the edges of the components, which occur to varying degrees depending on the treatment time and the shape of the abrasive grains.
• blasting Another well-known process for the mechanical post-processing of additively manufactured components is blasting. When blasting, the surface of the component is treated with the help of a pneumatically fed blasting medium. This is a dry granular substance that comes in a variety of forms
• Laser polishing is a thermal surface treatment process. The laser's energy is used to selectively melt or vaporize the material. The success of a
• US 2018/0117836 A1 discloses a method for the additive manufacturing of components, in which the additive manufacturing can also take place by means of material extrusion.
• each layer is processed with one or more laser beams after the respective layer has been applied.
• US 2018/0079136 A1 also proposes laser processing of a layer that has already been applied.
• the surface present in each case is heated before the material is deposited.
• DE 102018 108 145 A1 describes a method for processing surfaces of components produced using 3D printing, in which the components are post-processed after production in an additional process step using laser radiation in order to smooth the surface.
• the object of the present invention is to specify a method and an arrangement for the additive manufacturing of components by means of material extrusion, with which components with surfaces of low surface roughness can also be obtained in non-visible areas without the need for an additional process step after the layered construction of the components. Presentation of the invention
• the components are built up in layers in a known manner from a component material which is applied in a viscous state layer by layer to a support, for example a substrate or a base plate, preferably via at least one extrusion die.
• the method is characterized in that the component material applied in each case as a layer is processed synchronously with the application while it is still in a viscous state with at least one laser beam directed at a lateral boundary of the layer.
• This processing is preferably carried out to smooth out any unevenness on the surface of the subsequent component that is caused by the layered structure. These are, for example, bumps caused by overextrusion at the edges of the respective layers occur or around steps that can be caused by the layered structure.
• This smoothing can be done by material-shaping or material-removing laser processing, i.e. the shaping and/or removal of the extrusion material protruding at the edges or lateral boundaries of the layer in the case of overextrusion and/or the steps with the corresponding geometry of the component through the directed energy input of the for this purpose suitably selected laser parameters.
• a targeted surface structuring can also be carried out by synchronous laser processing if required.
• a wide variety of lasers can be used as the energy source. The selection of the laser source largely depends on the material to be processed.
• CW lasers continuous laser sources
• pulsed lasers pulsed lasers
• surface smoothing or surface structuring is achieved through several effects.
• the energy input can be selected in such a way that the component material is locally heated to a temperature above its vaporization temperature and the material is thus removed.
• a surface smoothing effect can also be caused by the material melting.
• the contours of the component are then made to flow by surface tension effects.
• the high-frequency laser pulses set additional vibration energy in the applied layer or the applied
• the micro-melt created as a result of the thermal energy introduced by the material extruder and the laser system represents a vibration barrier, whereby vibration energy is absorbed and converted into additional heat. This leads to melting of the surface contour in fractions of a second.
• Limitations of the layer are processed by the one or more laser beams synchronously with the material application of this layer, ie immediately after the order, while the component material is still in a viscous state.
• the material-applying extrusion process and the material-forming or material-removing laser process form a common process step.
• Laser beams which are simultaneously directed at opposite lateral boundaries of the layer, can also be smoothed in a simple manner on the later component that is not visible from the outside.
• the laser beams are transverse to the
• Extrusion direction directed to the lateral boundaries of the just extruded portion of the layer.
• Laser beams take place, which are irradiated laterally parallel to the layer plane.
• the laser beams can also be irradiated at an angle to the plane of the layer, which is preferably ⁇ 45°, but particularly preferably ⁇ 10°.
• the respective laser beam is directed onto the component material orthogonally to the surface area to be processed.
• the synchronous processing means that less energy is required for smoothing or surface structuring than for post-processing of the finished component using laser radiation, since the viscous material is still at a higher temperature.
• the laser processing can also include a functionalization of the surface, for example by activating substances in the component material using the laser radiation.
• the energy introduced by the laser radiation starts a chemical process which, for example in LAM (laser additive manufacturing), can cause the additively applied silicone to harden.
• LAM laser additive manufacturing
• the proposed arrangement which is designed to carry out the method, accordingly has an extrusion device through which the component material is deposited layer by layer on a carrier in a viscous state can be applied, and one or more laser processing devices.
• These laser processing devices are arranged and designed in such a way that they direct one or more laser beams synchronously with the application of material by the extrusion device from the side onto the component material that is applied as a layer while it is still in a viscous state.
• the laser processing devices can be attached directly to a displacement unit or kinematics of the extrusion device or also independently of these kinematics.
• the laser processing device(s) can be stationary or at least partially movable via their own kinematics. For example, a stationary arrangement of the laser or lasers in connection with kinematics for a beam-guiding part of the respective laser processing device is also possible.
• the arrangement and design of the laser processing devices must only enable the laser processing of the lateral boundaries of the respective layer area synchronously with the application of material.
• smooth or structured surfaces can be produced directly during production on components manufactured by means of material extrusion due to the integrated laser machining process. In comparison to subsequent laser processing, the surfaces are smoothed or structured as soon as they are created. As a result, internal smooth or specifically structured surfaces can also be produced using laser processing.
• the method and the arrangement avoid costly and time-consuming ones Rework on additively manufactured components in relation to the surface structure.
• higher build-up rates with greater layer thicknesses can be generated with the same surface quality. As a result, the technology of material extrusion can be used more economically.
• the proposed method can be used with all additive material extrusion techniques, such as Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF), Direct Energy Deposition (DED), Liquid Additive Manufacturing (LAM), etc.
• FFF Fused Filament Fabrication
• FGF Fused Granular Fabrication
• DED Direct Energy Deposition
• LAM Liquid Additive Manufacturing
• the main application is smoothing of the component surfaces of additively manufactured components.
• this laser processing can also be used to functionalize or activate the surfaces.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of two
• FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of
• FIG. 4 shows a second example of a construction of the proposed arrangement in a schematic representation.
• Layers 8 and also the desired contour 9 of the component can be seen. Above the layers 8, the extrusion nozzle 2 is indicated.
• the undesired steps 7 and the beads 11 caused by overextrusion can be removed or smoothed out while the component is still being built up. This is done during material extrusion with an integrated laser unit for surface smoothing or surface structuring.
• the material-applying extrusion process and the material-forming or material-removing laser process are synchronized and form a common process step.
• one or more laser beams 3 are directed onto the outlet of the extrusion unit, generally an extrusion nozzle 2, as indicated schematically in FIG. In this case, the laser beam 3 is directed orthogonally to the surface of the component to be smoothed.
• FIG. 2 shows schematically that during the material extrusion, the respectively applied component material of the individual layers 2 is processed with the laser beam 3 immediately upon application.
• the direction of movement of the extrusion die 2 is indicated by the arrow.
• the systems or devices required for production according to the proposed method can be arranged in different ways.
• FIG. 3 shows a first example of a possible configuration of the proposed arrangement. In this figure, the part of the component 1 that has already been built up can be seen, on which additional layers are applied with the extrusion nozzle 2 .
• the extrusion nozzle 2 is attached to a kinematic mechanism 6, which allows the nozzle 2 to move in all three spatial directions (x, y, z), as indicated by the straight arrows in the figure.
• a laser device consisting of a laser 4 and a focusing unit 5 can be seen in this representation, via which the laser beam 3 is deflected and directed synchronously with the material application onto the lateral boundary of the applied layer.
• the laser device can be rotated about the extrusion nozzle 2, as indicated by the curved arrow in the figure.
• one or more other such laser devices can also be arranged on the extruder or the kinematics 6 in order to process the layer applied in each case from several sides at the same time.
• Figure 4 finally shows another exemplary embodiment of the proposed arrangement, in which the laser device consisting of laser 4 and focusing unit 5 outside the Extrusion device with extrusion die 2 and kinematics 6 are arranged.
• polar kinematics are used, in which the carrier 10 rotates with the component 1 about a central axis.
• the extrusion nozzle 2 is attached to a further kinematic system, which allows a movement of the extrusion nozzle 2 in the three spatial directions. Due to the relative movement of the component via the rotation of the carrier 10, all surfaces can be processed with just one laser device. However, there are preferably at least two laser devices located opposite one another in this arrangement in order to be able to process the layer applied in each case from both sides at the same time.
• FIGS. 3 and 4 are only examples.
• the arrangement, structure and number of laser devices can vary, as can the arrangement and structure of the extrusion device.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Toxicology (AREA)
• Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
• Extrusion Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
• Powder Metallurgy (AREA)
• Laser Beam Processing (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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• 2021
  • 2021-05-07 DE DE102021111966.9A patent/DE102021111966A1/de active Pending
• 2022
  • 2022-05-03 EP EP22727781.1A patent/EP4334115A1/de active Pending
  • 2022-05-03 WO PCT/EP2022/061786 patent/WO2022233831A1/de active Application Filing
  • 2022-05-03 JP JP2023568056A patent/JP2024522055A/ja active Pending

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