This invention can maintain the temperature of the shaping plane in a three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaping apparatus. A three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaping apparatus includes a material spreader that spreads the material or materials of a three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaped object onto the shaping plane on which the three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaped object is to be shaped; an electron gun that generates an electron beam; at least one deflector that deflects the electron beam so that it scans the shaping plane one- or two-dimensionally; at least one lens that is positioned between the electron gun and the deflector, and focuses the electron beam; a focus controller that controls the focus of the electron beam based on which region is to be scanned by the electron beam; and a controller that controls the deflecting direction of the deflector and the scanning rate.

A High Energy Beam Processing (HEBP) system provides feedback signal monitoring and feedback control for the improvement of process repeatability and three-dimensional (3D) printed part quality. Electrons deflected from a substrate in the processing area impinge on a surface of a sensor. The electrons result from the deflection of an electron beam from the substrate. Either one or both of an initial profile of an electron beam and an initial location of the electron beam relative to the substrate are determined based on a feedback electron signal corresponding to the impingement of the electrons on the surface of the sensor. With an appropriate profile and location of the electron beam, the build structure is fabricated on the substrate.

An additive manufacturing system including a two-dimensional energy patterning system for imaging a powder bed is disclosed. Improved optical systems supporting beam combining, beam steering, and both patterned and unpatterned beam recycling and re-use are described.

A method and an apparatus for collecting a powdered material after a print job in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing may involve a build platform supporting a powder bed capable of tilting, inverting, and shaking to separate the powder bed substantially from the build platform in a hopper. The powdered material may be collected in a hopper for reuse in later print jobs. The powder collecting process may be automated to increase efficiency of powder bed fusion additive manufacturing.

An electron beam installation, which is used for processing powdered material, has a powder container, which can accommodate a powder bed made of the powdered material to be processed. Furthermore, it has an electron beam generator, which is configured to direct an electron beam onto laterally differing locations of the powder bed. To reduce the dispersion of the powdered material during the processing using the electron beam, the electron beam installation has a frit device, which, by applying an AC voltage between at least two electrodes, generates an electromagnetic alternating field, which bonds the powdered material of the powder bed, at least in regions over the powder bed.

The present disclosure generally relates to methods of additive manufacturing with control of the energy beam incidence angle that allows for aligning the laser beam angle to directly oppose the building direction of an angled wall. The method includes building an object in an additive manufacturing powder bed where the object includes a surface that is defined by a build vector projecting outward relative to the build plate center at an angle relative to normal of the build plate such that 90>>0 and the directed energy beam forms an angle .sub.L2 relative to normal of the build plate such that 270>.sub.L2>180, wherein .sub.L2=180, and <45. The present methods provide finished objects having overhanging regions with more consistent surface finish and resistance to mechanical strain or stress.

A computer-implemented method of generating scan instructions for forming a product using additive layer manufacture as a series of layers is provided. The method comprises determining a beam acceleration voltage to be used when forming the product; for each hatch area of layers of the product, determining a respective beam current to be used when forming the hatch area and providing a respective beam current value to the hatch area description in the scan pattern instruction file; and for each line of each hatch area, determining a respective beam spot size to be used when scanning the beam along the line and providing a respective beam spot size value to the line description in the scan pattern instruction file, and determining a respective series of beam step sizes and beam step dwell times to be used when scanning the beam along the line, and providing a respective series of beam position values and beam step dwell times to the line description in the scan pattern instruction file thereby defining how the beam is to be scanned along the line. Also provided are a file of scan instructions, an additive layer manufacture apparatus, and a method of forming a product using the additive layer manufacturing apparatus.

The invention relates to a method for regulating the operation of an electromechanical apparatus (1), for example an EBM apparatus, in order to obtain certified processed products, wherein it is provided an initial calibration step that is intended to check the proper functioning of all the component parts of the apparatus (1) structured to ensure the complete functionality and a subsequent quality control step carried out on the obtained products by the carried out working process. The method entails the following steps: defining a plurality of measurement parameters relating to the component parts of the apparatus; measuring at least some of said parameters by means of sensors and/or measurement indicators related to said parameters during at least one processing phase performed by the apparatus; performing a quality control step on the obtained products after the working process obtaining data on any deviation from the expected quality; comparing the detected measurements of said parameters and data on any deviation from the expected quality with corresponding values of reference parameters available for that specific apparatus and for those products; detecting any deviations in one or more of said parameters or said data with respect to the values of the reference parameters; computing, on the basis of such differences, a total correction and regulation value; applying said total correction and regulation value preferably to only one of said parameters prior to the subsequent process, for example to the generation energy of the electrons beam (3). Basically, the method of the present invention allows obtaining semi-finished products free from structural defects by means of a primary check of the correct functioning of the various component parts of the apparatus (calibration procedure), a secondary check of the operational effectiveness of the process itself (operational qualification procedure) and a further final check of the process stability and repeatability within a process window (performance qualification).

The present disclosure generally relates to additive manufacturing systems and methods on a large-scale format. One aspect involves a build unit that can be moved around in three dimensions by a positioning system, building separate portions of a large object. The build unit has an energy directing device that directs, e.g., laser or e-beam irradiation onto a powder layer. In the case of laser irradiation, the build volume may have a gasflow device that provides laminar gas flow to a laminar flow zone above the layer of powder. This allows for efficient removal of the smoke, condensates, and other impurities produced by irradiating the powder (the gas plume) without excessively disturbing the powder layer. The build unit may also have a recoater that allows it to selectively deposit particular quantities of powder in specific locations over a work surface to build large, high quality, high precision objects.

To provide a three-dimensional printing device that irradiates approximately the same ranges on the surface of a powder layer simultaneously with a plurality of electron beams having different beam shapes. An electron beam column 200 of the three-dimensional printing device 100 includes a plurality of electron sources 20 including electron sources having anisotropically-shaped beam generating units, and beam shape deforming elements 30 that deform the beam shapes of electron beams output from the electron sources 20 on a surface 63 of a powder layer 62. A deflector 50 included in the electron beam column 200 deflects an electron beam output from each of the plurality of electron sources 20 by a distance larger than the beam space between electron beams before passing through the deflector 50.