A printer includes a heat control device configured to prevent a temperature of a part that is printed by the printer from decreasing by more than about 5° C. as a height of the part increases from about 0 mm to about 30 mm. The heat control device includes a gas curtain source that is configured to generate a gas curtain that at least partially surrounds at least a portion of the part.

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for cleaning a 3D printed article, in particular a 3D printed heat exchanger. After 3D printing, an article may have internal passages formed from bonded powder and said passages may contain unbonded powder that needs to be removed before further use of/processing of the article. To remove this unbonded powder, the article is filled with a cleaning fluid and vibrated. The cleaning fluid is then pumped out of the article and past a sensor that generates a magnetic field. The sensor detects the presence of powder particles in the fluid by detecting a perturbation of the magnetic field caused by said particles. The fluid is then filtered and returned to a reservoir for use. The sensor may indicate the article is sufficiently clean when a detected concentration of particles in the fluid drops below a threshold.

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for cleaning a 3D printed article, in particular a 3D printed heat exchanger. After 3D printing, an article may have internal passages formed from bonded powder and said passages may contain unbonded powder that needs to be removed before further use of/processing of the article. To remove this unbonded powder, the article is filled with a cleaning fluid and vibrated. The cleaning fluid is then pumped out of the article and past a sensor that generates a magnetic field. The sensor detects the presence of powder particles in the fluid by detecting a perturbation of the magnetic field caused by said particles. The fluid is then filtered and returned to a reservoir for use. The sensor may indicate the article is sufficiently clean when a detected concentration of particles in the fluid drops below a threshold.

An additive manufacturing system includes an ultrasonic inspection system integrated in such a way as to minimize time needed for an inspection process. The inspection system may have an ultrasonic phased array integrated into a build table for detecting defects in each successive slice of a workpiece and such that each slice may be re-melted if and when defects are detected.

A build-plate with integrally-formed spinal implant constructs and a method used in forming spinal implant constructs on the build-plate and machining the spinal implant constructs formed on the build-plate to manufacture spinal implants is provided. The spinal implant constructs can be formed via additive manufacturing processes by adding material to an upper surface of the build-plate, and then the spinal implant constructs can be subjected to subtractive manufacturing processes to form the spinal implants.

The invention relates to an apparatus (10) for producing a three-dimensional workpiece, comprising: a carrier (12) adapted to receive material (14) for producing the workpiece; at least one mobile production unit (24), a moving unit (18) that is adapted to move the mobile production unit (24) relative to the carrier (12) so as to position the mobile production unit (24) oppositely to different sections of the carrier (12); a sensing unit that is adapted to generate sensor signals relating to a relative arrangement of the mobile production unit (24) and the carrier (12); and a control unit that is configured to, in addition to the positioning of the mobile production unit (24) via the moving unit (18), provide at least one fine positioning function to compensate for an offset from a desired relative arrangement of the mobile production unit (24) and the carrier (18) based on the sensor signals generated by the sensing unit. The invention further relates to a method for producing a three-dimensional workpiece.

A system for recoating a powder bed includes a build platform holding a powder bed and an electrode assembly including an electrode and an insulating shield. A voltage supply produces a high voltage alternating current and communicates with the powder bed and the electrode. The electrode assembly is positionable over the powder bed, such that when the electrode assembly is over the powder bed, the shield is between the electrode and the powder bed's top surface. The voltage supply produces a high voltage alternating current that creates an alternating electric field between the electrode and the powder bed that causes the powder of the powder bed top surface to oscillate in a region between the shield and the bed and then reposition themselves on the bed such that the top layer of the powder bed is smoother than it was prior to when the powder particles began oscillating.

A system for recoating a powder bed includes a build platform holding a powder bed and an electrode assembly including an electrode and an insulating shield. A voltage supply produces a high voltage alternating current and communicates with the powder bed and the electrode. The electrode assembly is positionable over the powder bed, such that when the electrode assembly is over the powder bed, the shield is between the electrode and the powder bed's top surface. The voltage supply produces a high voltage alternating current that creates an alternating electric field between the electrode and the powder bed that causes the powder of the powder bed top surface to oscillate in a region between the shield and the bed and then reposition themselves on the bed such that the top layer of the powder bed is smoother than it was prior to when the powder particles began oscillating.

A 3D printer successively fuses sheet material in a stack to form a three-dimensional object. The sheet material may provide a mesh separating islands of material that will be fused to produce the desired three-dimensional object. The mesh provides support for the island material during the fusing process and may be removed afterwards.

A three-dimensional shaped object manufacturing method for shaping a three-dimensional shaped object. The three-dimensional shaped object manufacturing method includes a first step of shaping a first partial shaped object corresponding to a first partial path and a second partial shaped object corresponding to a second partial path in accordance with shaping data including path data and discharge amount data; a second step of measuring a first gap indicating a gap between the first partial shaped object and the second partial shaped object; and a third step of executing an adjustment processing of adjusting, based on a difference between the first gap and a second gap determined based on the shaping data and corresponding to the first gap, a discharge amount in a third partial path which is one of the plurality of paths and along which the discharge unit moves after the first partial path and the second partial path.