A sole mold for manufacturing a sole from a plurality of particles includes at least one first opening for supplying the particles, and at least two second openings for supplying a gaseous and/or liquid medium to bond and/or fuse the particles together. At least a portion of the sole mold is manufactured by an additive manufacturing method.

A supply station for dispensing build material from a build material container is provided. The supply station includes a stationary support structure supporting a cylindrical cage along an axis, wherein the cylindrical cage is configured to be rotated in a first angular direction to dispense build material from the build material container.

A method and an apparatus of a powder bed fusion additive manufacturing system that enables a quick change in the optical beam delivery size and intensity across locations of a print surface for different powdered materials while ensuring high availability of the system. A dynamic optical assembly containing a set of lens assemblies of different magnification ratios and a mechanical assembly may change the magnification ratios as needed. The dynamic optical assembly may include a transitional and rotational position control of the optics to minimize variations of the optical beam sizes across the print surface.

A 3D object according to the invention comprises substrate layers infiltrated by a hardened material. The 3D object is fabricated by a method comprising the following steps: Position powder on all or part of a substrate layer. Repeat this step for the remaining substrate layers. Stack the substrate layers. Transform the powder into a substance that flows and subsequently hardens into the hardened material. The hardened material solidifies in a spatial pattern that infiltrates positive regions in the substrate layers and does not infiltrate negative regions in the substrate layers. In a preferred embodiment, the substrate is carbon fiber and excess substrate is removed by abrasion.

Methods of forming solid carbon products include disposing a plurality of nanotubes in a press, and applying heat to the plurality of carbon nanotubes to form the solid carbon product. Further processing may include sintering the solid carbon product to form a plurality of covalently bonded carbon nanotubes. The solid carbon product includes a plurality of voids between the carbon nanotubes having a median minimum dimension of less than about 100 nm. Some methods include compressing a material comprising carbon nanotubes, heating the compressed material in a non-reactive environment to form covalent bonds between adjacent carbon nanotubes to form a sintered solid carbon product, and cooling the sintered solid carbon product to a temperature at which carbon of the carbon nanotubes do not oxidize prior to removing the resulting solid carbon product for further processing, shipping, or use.

Examples provide a build material management station (106). The station comprises: a processing unit which comprises a first conduit (150a, 150b, 152a, 152b) and at least one pump for pumping build material through the first conduit; and at least one external build material storage tank (110, 114a, 114b). The processing unit further comprises at least a first port and a second port (154a, 154b), both ports being located on the exterior of the processing unit such that the external build material storage tank can be connected to the first conduit through the first port and the external build material storage tank can be connected to the first conduit through the second port

A resin powder for solid freeform fabrication has a 50 percent cumulative volume particle diameter of from 5 to 100 μm and a ratio (Mv/Mn) of a volume average particle diameter (Mv) to the number average particle diameter (Mn) of 2.50 or less and satisfies at least one of the following conditions (1) to (3): (1): Tmf1>Tmf2 and (Tmf1−Tmf2)≥3 degrees C., both Tmf1 and Tmf2 are measured in differential scanning calorimetry measuring according to ISO 3146, (2): Cd1>Cd2 and (Cd1−Cd2)≥3 percent, both Cd1 and Cd2 are measured in differential scanning calorimetry measuring according to ISO 3146, and (3): C×1>C×2 and (C×1−C×2)≥3 percent.

The present invention provides methods, processes, and systems for the manufacture of three-dimensional articles made of polymers using 3D printing. A layer of prepolymer is deposited on a build plate to form a powder bed. The deposited powder bed is heated to about 50° C. to about 170° C. Then, a solution of activating agent is printed on the powder bed in a predetermined pattern, and a stimulus is applied converting the prepolymer to the final polymer. After a predetermined period of time, sequential layers are printed to provide the three-dimensional article. The three-dimensional object can be cured to produce the three-dimensional article composed of the final polymers.

Provided in one example herein is a three-dimensional (“3D”) printing method, comprising: (A) forming a layer comprising particles comprising a thermoplastic; (B) disposing over at least a portion of the layer a coalescent agent, which is radiation-absorbing and has a thermal decomposition temperature lower than or equal a melting temperature of the thermoplastic; (C) forming an object slice of a 3D object by exposing the coalescent agent to a radiant energy such that at least some of the coalescent agent thermally decomposes while causing at least some of the particles to fuse, wherein the object slice comprises the fused particles, and wherein the thermally decomposed coalescent agent is not radiation-absorbing; and (D) repeating (A) to (C) to form the 3D object comprising multiple object slices bound depth-wise to one another.

A method or apparatus for three-dimensionally printing. The method may comprise causing a phase change in a region of the first material by applying focused energy to the region using a focused energy source, and displacing the first material with a second material. The apparatus may comprise a container configured to hold a first material, a focused energy source configured to cause a phase change in a region of the first material by applying focused energy to the region, and an injector configured to displace the first material with a second material. The first material may comprise a yield stress material, which is a material exhibiting Herschel-Bulkley behavior. The yield stress material may comprise a soft granular gel. The second material may comprise one or more cells.