(i) a step of disposing a powder that includes an absorber absorbing light of a wavelength included in a laser beam to be irradiated and silicon dioxide as a main component; (ii) a step of sintering or melting and solidifying the powder by irradiating the powder with a laser beam; and (iii) a step of heat-treating a shaped object formed by repeating the steps (i) and (ii) at 1470° C. or more and less than 1730° C.

A method for manufacturing a ceramic article including (i) a step of irradiating a powder mainly containing a ceramic material with an energy beam to sinter or melt and solidify the powder into a solidified portion, wherein the step is repeated a predetermined number of times to sequentially bond the resulting solidified portions together to obtain a ceramic modeling object, (ii) a step of allowing the shaped ceramic object to absorb a metal component-containing liquid that contains inorganic particles containing a metal element; and (iii) a step of heating the shaped ceramic object that has absorbed the metal component-containing liquid.

A process for preparing alloy products is described using a self-sustaining or self-propagating SHS-type combustion process with point-source ignition, preferably a laser, in a pressurized vessel. Binary, ternary and quaternary alloys can be formed with control over polycrystalline structure and bandgap. Methods to tune the bandgap and the alloys formed are described. The alloy products may be doped. Preferably sulfides, tellurides or selenides are formed. Cooling during reaction takes place.

An apparatus for the additive manufacturing of three-dimensional structures from a material that is to be solidified by way of location-selective solidification thereof as a result of light-induced chemical and/or physical processes in the material includes a laser source for producing a laser beam, a focusing optical unit for focusing the laser beam so as to form a laser focus, and a beam-splitter optical unit for splitting the laser beam into at least two partial laser beams. The laser source, the focusing optical unit and the beam-splitter optical unit are arranged such that the laser beam, starting from the laser source, passes first through the focusing optical unit and then through the beam-splitter optical unit and the partial laser beams finally are each directed to different locations on the material that is to be solidified.

An additive manufacturing method may involve: Providing a first material in powder form and a second material as a consumable electrode; forming the first material into a first layer on a base; placing an end of the second material in close proximity to a portion of the first layer; operating a power supply connected to the base and the second material to provide electrical energy sufficient to initiate a chemical reaction between the first and second materials and form a reaction product; feeding additional amounts of the second material while moving the end of the second material along a desired pattern adjacent the first layer, additional reaction products forming additional portions of the article; providing additional quantities of the first material over the first layer to form a subsequent layer; and operating the power supply to form additional portions of the article in the subsequent layer.

An additive manufacturing (AM) system includes a housing defining a chamber, a build platform disposed in the chamber at a first elevation, and a lower gas inlet disposed at a second elevation and configured to supply a lower gas flow. The AM system includes a contoured surface extending between the lower gas inlet and the build platform to direct the lower gas flow from the second elevation at the lower gas inlet to the first elevation at the build platform, where the contoured surface discharges the lower gas flow in a direction substantially parallel to the build platform. The AM system also includes one or more gas delivery devices coupled to the lower gas inlet to regulate one or more flow characteristics of the lower gas flow, and a gas outlet configured to discharge the lower gas flow.

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Molecular Layer Deposition (MLD) provide precise and conformal coatings that are employed to modify the properties of powders for additive manufacturing (AM). We have surprisingly discovered that use of a limited number of ALD cycles can impart improved flowability. In various aspects, the coating may provide one or more advantages such as novel material properties, increased flowability, improved sintering, enhanced stability during storage, and prevention of premature sintering.

The invention relates to an apparatus for remelting material powder in layers to form a shaped body in a process chamber. The apparatus has a carrier for the layer build-up and an irradiation device for irradiating the powder in accordance with cross-sectional regions of the shaped body associated with the shaped body layers to be produced. A powder layer levelling and smoothing device having a smoothing slide for homogenising an amount of material powder on the carrier is provided, as well as an extraction device having a suction nozzle for extracting process smoke. The suction nozzle is movable in motor-driven fashion in the process chamber. Said suction nozzle is coupled to the smoothing slide for joint movement and is operable in suction mode during the joint movement, the irradiation device being active for irradiating the powder.

An optically clear resin for additive manufacturing includes an optically clear ceramic precursor having a pre-defined refractive index. Each molecule of the ceramic precursor has at least two photopolymerizable functional groups, at least one of the photopolymerizable functional groups being functionalized with a refractive index-tuning group thereby causing the ceramic precursor to have the pre-defined refractive index.

A method for producing an alumina sintered body, comprising: molding an alumina powder to obtain an alumina article, the alumina powder comprising alumina particles having a particle diameter of not less than 0.1 μm and less than 1 μm, and alumina particles having a particle diameter of not less than 1 μm and less than 100 μm; forming a carbon powder-containing layer on a surface of the alumina article to obtain a laminate body; and irradiating a surface of the carbon powder-containing layer of the laminate body with a laser light to form a transparent alumina sintered portion.