Disclosed is a micro-region semi-solid additive manufacturing method, where rod-shaped materials are used as consumables, and heating modes such as a high-energy beam, an electric arc, a resistance heat, or the like are applied to the front end of the consumables to enable the front end to be in a semi-solid state in which the solid-liquid two phases coexist; at the same time, the rotational torsion and the axial thrust applied on the consumables have powerful effects such as shearing, agitation and extrusion, that is, the mold-free semi-solid rheoforming is performed. The consumable is transmitted to the bottom layer metal continuously in this manner to form metallurgical bonding, the stacking process is repeated according to a planned route obtained after discretization slicing treatment, and then an object or a stack layer in a special shape can be formed.

System (2) for automatically applying a coating element (4) to a support surface comprises a heating device (1) for applying the coating element (4) along an application path of the support surface, by administration of heat obtained by the Joule effect, comprising a first electrode (5) and a second electrode (6) which can be connected to an electric power generator and are configured to form a part of an electric circuit, a portion of the coating element (4) being able to be arranged between the first electrode (5) and the second electrode (6), so as to close the electric circuit, such that the Joule effect heats the portion of the coating element (4) following a flow of current in the electric circuit, the overall configuration of the heating device being such that the first electrode (5) and the second electrode (6) are able to be moved with respect to the coating element (4) during application of the coating element (4) to the support surface, and an automatic movement device (3) being able to move the device (1) along a path for applying the coating element (4) to the support surface.

A porous tool includes a mold body and an additively-manufactured film attached to a surface of the mold body. The film includes a porous layer and a nonporous support layer. The porous layer may include a surface having an array of surface pore openings, a network of interconnected passages in fluid communication with the surface pore openings, and one or more lateral edges that have an array of edge pore openings in fluid communication with the interconnected passages. Methods of forming a porous tool include depositing additive material on a build surface using a directed energy deposition system to form a film while simultaneously subtracting selected portions of the additive material from the film using laser ablation. Methods of forming a molded component include conforming a moldable material to a shape using a porous tool that includes a mold body and an additively-manufactured film, and evacuating outgas from the moldable material through a porous layer of the film.

The present disclosure provides a system for printing at least a portion of a three-dimensional (3D) object. The system may comprise a source of at least one feedstock, a support for supporting at least a portion of the 3D object, a feeder for directing at least one feedstock from the source towards the support, and a power supply for supplying electrical current. The system may comprise a controller operatively coupled to the power supply. The controller may receive a computational representation of the 3D object. The controller may direct the at least one feedstock through a feeder towards the support and may direct electrical current through the at least one feedstock and into the support. The controller may subject such feedstock to Joule heating such that at least a portion of such feedstock may deposit adjacent to the support, thereby printing the 3D object in accordance with the computational representation.

Provided are a three-dimensional shaped object production device and method capable of producing a predetermined three-dimensional shaped object by forming a ball at a leading end of a conductive wire through use of the conductive wire based on scanned data or designed data and aligning and stacking the balls. The three-dimensional shaped object production device includes: a plate (40), on which a three-dimensional shaped object is placeable; a ball forming section configured to form a ball (13) by applying high voltage between a leading end of a conductive wire (4) paid out from a leading end of a capillary (12) and a spark rod (19) and melting the leading end of the wire by discharge energy; a positioning device configured to position the plate and the ball forming section by moving the plate and the ball forming section relative to each other; and a bonding section configured to bond the ball formed at the leading end of the capillary to another ball (14) that has already been stacked on the plate, the forming of the ball by the ball forming section, the relative moving of the plate and the ball forming section by the positioning device, and the bonding of the ball formed at the leading end of the capillary to the another ball by the bonding section is repeated, to thereby produce a three-dimensional shaped object having a desired shape.

Production methods for producing a fiber-reinforced metal component having a metal matrix which is penetrated by a plurality of reinforcing fibers are provided. One method includes depositing in layers reinforcing fibers in fiber layers, depositing in layers and liquefying a metal modelling material in matrix material layers, and consolidating in layers the metal modelling material in adjacently deposited matrix material layers to form the metal matrix of the fiber-reinforced metal component. Here, the metal component is formed integrally from alternately deposited matrix material layers and fiber layers. An alternative method includes introducing an open three-dimensional fiberwoven fabric consisting of reinforcing fibers into a casting mold, pouring a liquid metal modelling material into the casting mold and consolidating the metal modelling material to form the metal matrix of the fiber-reinforced metal component. Here, the metal component is formed integrally from the consolidated metal modelling material and the reinforcing fibers.

A member includes a first metallic region made of a first material; a second metallic region made of a second material that is a different from the first material; and a mix region made of mixture of the first and second materials between the first and second metallic region. In a cross-sectional view, an interface between the first metallic region and the mix region is represented by a line having a first curved line protruding toward the first metallic region and a second curved line protruding toward the first metallic region, and an angle at a cross point of the first and second curved lines, the angle being made by a tangent line of the first curved line and a tangent line of the second curved line in a region of the first metallic region, is equal to or larger than 70 degrees and smaller than 180 degrees.

The present disclosure provides a system for printing at least a portion of a three-dimensional (3D) object. The system may comprise a source of at least one feedstock, a support for supporting at least a portion of the 3D object, a feeder for directing at least one feedstock from the source towards the support, and a power supply for supplying electrical current. The system may comprise a controller operatively coupled to the power supply. The controller may receive a computational representation of the 3D object. The controller may direct the at least one feedstock through a feeder towards the support and may direct electrical current through the at least one feedstock and into the support. The controller may subject such feedstock to Joule heating such that at least a portion of such feedstock may deposit adjacent to the support, thereby printing the 3D object in accordance with the computational representation.

In various embodiments, a three-dimensional metallic structure is fabricated in layer-by-layer fashion via deposition of discrete metal particles resulting from the passing of an electric current between a metal wire and an electrically conductive base or a previously deposited layer of particles.

The present disclosure provides a system for printing at least a portion of a three-dimensional (3D) object. The system may comprise a source of at least one feedstock, a support for supporting at least a portion of the 3D object, a feeder for directing at least one feedstock from the source towards the support, and a power supply for supplying electrical current. The system may comprise a controller operatively coupled to the power supply. The controller may receive a computational representation of the 3D object. The controller may direct the at least one feedstock through a feeder towards the support and may direct electrical current through the at least one feedstock and into the support. The controller may subject such feedstock to Joule heating such that at least a portion of such feedstock may deposit adjacent to the support, thereby printing the 3D object in accordance with the computational representation.