Additive manufacturing can involve dispensing a powdered material to form a layer of a powder bed on a support surface of a build platform. A portion of the layer of the powder bed may be selectively melted or fused to form one or more temporary walls out of the fused portion of the layer of the powder bed to contain another portion of the layer of the powder bed on the build platform.

A recoater that is two-dimensionally driven is cooled by a simple structure. A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes at least one material spreader that spreads a material of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, a temperature measurer that measures a temperature of the material spreader, at least one cooler that cools the material spreader and is provided at a standby position at which the material spreader stands by while the material is not spread, and a controller that controls the material spreader. The controller moves the material spreader to the standby position to bring the material spreader and the cooler into contact with each other.

Systems and methods for multi-materials and varying print parameters in Additive Manufacturing systems are provided. In one example, a layer including a first powder material and a second material different from the first powder material are deposited, such that at least a first portion of the first powder material is in a first area that is devoid of the second material. An energy beam is generated and applied to fuse the layer at a plurality of locations. In another example, a layer of a powder material is deposited based on a first subset of parameters. An energy beam is generated based on a second subset of the parameters, and the energy beam is applied to fuse the layer at a plurality of locations based on a third subset of the parameters. At least one of the parameters is set to have different values during a slice printing operation.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a three-dimensional article through successively depositing individual layers of powder material that are fused together so as to form the article, the apparatus comprising an electron beam source emanating an electron beam for fusing the powder material in a build tank, a hollow construction having an upper opening and a lower opening, means for moving the hollow construction between a first position and a second position, a synchronising unit for synchronising the movement of a powder distributor for applying the individual layers of powder material on the work table with the movement of the hollow construction so that the hollow metal construction is at the first position when fusing and/or heating the powder layer and at the second position when the powder distributor is distributing the powder material for forming the individual powder layers.

A method for additively manufacturing a component is provided. The method may include forming a surface on the top layer of the component, scanning the surface of the top layer of the component to determine if a defect is present in the surface, and if detected, correcting the defect within the surface. Scanning the surface of the top layer of the component to determine if a defect is present in the surface may be performed by obtaining data indicative of the surface of the top layer of the component by interrogating the surface of the top layer of the component with a scanning device, and comparing the data with a reference database to determine if an irregularity is present.

A method of manufacturing a component includes providing a powder layer; scanning the powder layer using an electron beam; detecting back scattered electrons produced by the interaction of the electron beam with the powder layer; identifying, from the detected back scattered electrons, any defects in the powder layer; selectively melting at least a part of the powder layer so as to generate a solid layer; and repeating these steps at least once so as to build up a shape corresponding to the component. The method may also includes steps of making a decision about whether to remove any identified defects in the powder layer, and adjusting one or more parameters of the step of providing a powder and/or adjusting one or more parameters of the selective melting step so as to avoid future recurring defects at that position based on stored data relating to the scanned powder layer.

An apparatus for straightening wire in a directed energy deposition additive manufacturing machine. The apparatus includes at least three roller bearings positioned along one side of a longitudinal axis and a first adjustable bearing and a second adjustable bearing positioned along another side of the longitudinal axis. The first adjustable bearing and the second adjustable bearing are connected to a body and are positioned in a staggered alternating pattern with the at least three roller bearings. Further. the first adjustable bearing and the second adjustable bearing are each configured to apply a load to the wire. A directed energy deposition additive manufacturing machine includes the apparatus. A method for straightening a wire including feeding the wire into the apparatus.

A method of additive manufacture suitable for large and high resolution structures is disclosed. The method may include sequentially advancing each portion of a continuous part in the longitudinal direction from a first zone to a second zone. In the first zone, selected granules of a granular material may be amalgamated. In the second zone, unamalgamated granules of the granular material may be removed. The method may further include advancing a first portion of the continuous part from the second zone to a third zone while (1) a last portion of the continuous part is formed within the first zone and (2) the first portion is maintained in the same position in the lateral and transverse directions that the first portion occupied within the first zone and the second zone.

Systems and methods for additive layer manufacturing of metallic components, such as rocket engines and propellant supply systems, are provided. Methods include melting the surface of a work piece to form a weld pool; adding wire to the weld pool and moving a heat source relative to the work piece to progressively form a new layer of metallic material on the work piece; cooling the formed layer; stress relieving (e.g., peening) the cooled layer; applying a secondary operations either sequentially or simultaneously; and repeating the above steps as required to form components layer by layer. Systems and methods of supplying a first propellant to the rocket engine of a launch vehicle are also provided, where the first propellant is supplied through a heat exchanger for generating mechanical energy to pump the first propellant into the rocket engine, and electrical energy to pump a second propellant into the rocket engine.

An additive manufacturing system utilizing an epitaxy process, and method of manufacture, utilizes a heating source and a cooling source to control thermal gradients and a solidification rate of each slice of a workpiece manufactured from a seed having a directional grain microstructure. An energy gun is utilized to melt selected regions of each successive layer of a plurality layers of a powder in a powder bed to successively form each solidified slice of the workpiece.