ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING METHOD AND SYSTEM

Abstract

A method builds a workpiece using an additive manufacturing process, wherein the workpiece is built up by consolidating material in a layer-by-layer manner. The method includes receiving an initial geometric model defining surface geometry of the workpiece, determining workpiece slices to be consolidated as layers of the workpiece during the additive manufacturing process from the initial geometric model, determining adjusted positions of the workpiece slices adjusted from initial positions of the workpiece slices as determined from the initial geometric model, the determination of the adjusted positions based upon warping of the workpiece expected to occur during or after the additive manufacturing process, and building the workpiece using the additive manufacturing process, wherein the workpiece slices are formed in the adjusted positions.

Claims

1. A method of building a workpiece using an additive manufacturing process, wherein the workpiece is built up by consolidating material in a layer-by-layer manner, the method comprising: receiving an initial model defining surface geometry of the workpiece, determining initial workpiece slices to be consolidated as layers of the workpiece during the additive manufacturing process from the initial geometric model, building a test workpiece in accordance with the initial workpiece slices using the additive manufacturing process, determining a degree of warping by measuring the test workpiece after an end of the build of the test workpiece, determining an adjusted surface geometry of the workpiece adjusted from the initial workpiece model such that warping of the workpiece with the adjusted surface geometry expected to occur during or after the additive manufacturing process returns the workpiece to or towards the surface geometry as defined in the initial geometric model, and building the workpiece with the adjusted surface geometry using the additive manufacturing process.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the test workpiece is built on a build plate and the degree of warping is determined by measuring the test workpiece after an end of the build of the test workpiece with the test workpiece attached to the build plate.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the build plate is used to establish a datum for measuring the test workpiece.

4. A method according to claim 3, where the datum is a surface of the build plate.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the datum is an upper surface of the build plate.

6. A method according to claim 2 comprising carrying out heat treatment on the test workpiece and the degree of warping is determined by measuring the test workpiece after the heat treatment.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the test workpiece is built on a build plate and the degree of warping is determined by measuring the test workpiece after the test workpiece is released from the build plate.

8. A method according to claim 7 comprising carrying out heat treatment on the test workpiece and the degree of warping is determined by measuring the test workpiece after the heat treatment.

9. A method according to claim 1 comprising carrying out heat treatment on the test workpiece and the degree of warping is determined by measuring the test workpiece after the heat treatment.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein measuring the test workpiece is carried out on a coordinate positioning machine.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the coordinate positioning machine is a coordinate measuring machine.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the coordinate measuring machine is non-Cartesian coordinate positioning machine.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the coordinate positioning machine is a machine tool.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein measuring the test workpiece is carried out using a non-contact measurement probe.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the non-contact probe is an optical non-contact probe.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein measuring the test workpiece is carried out using a contact measurement probe.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the contact measurement probe is a touch trigger or scanning contact probe.

18. A method according to claim 1 wherein the workpiece is built in the same orientation in a build volume as the test workpiece.

19. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is built with the same supports as the test workpiece.

20. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is built in the same position within a build volume as the test workpiece.

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein the adjusted surface geometry takes into account a difference in a build of the workpiece and a build of the test workpiece.

22. A method according to claim 21, comprising determining the adjusted surface geometry using a mapping describing how the adjusted surface geometry should be modified based upon the difference between the builds.

23. A method according to claim 21, wherein the difference comprises a difference in a first position of the test workpiece in a build volume in which the test workpiece is built and a second position of the workpiece in the build volume.

24. A method according to claim 1, comprising building a series of test workpieces each based upon the adjusted surface geometry slices determined from the distortion that occurred for a previous one of the test workpieces until surface geometry of one of the test workpieces of the series, after warping, matches that of the initial geometric model within a predefined tolerance.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 shows an initial geometric model of a workpiece and workpiece slices to be built as layers of the workpiece in an additive manufacturing process;

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a measured geometric model of a test workpiece determined from measurements of the test workpiece and test workpiece slices corresponding to layers of the test workpiece built in an additive manufacturing process;

[0033] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a system according to an embodiment of the invention; and

[0035] FIG. 5 shows a method of determining the locations of slices of a workpiece built using an additive manufacturing process.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0036] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, to build a workpiece using an additive manufacturing apparatus 500, a set of instructions are generated from an initial geometric model, such as a model in an STL format, defining intended surface geometry 100 for the workpiece. The initial geometric model itself may be derived from another model, such as a CAD model. The initial geometric model is provided to computer system 502, such as a standard desktop computer, which determines (step A) slices 101a to 101h from the surface geometry 100 corresponding to layers of the workpiece to be built in the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 and initial positions of the slices 101a to 101h relative to each other. The computer system 502 also determines scan paths (not shown) for an energy beam, such as a laser beam, to take to consolidate material to form the slices 101a to 101h. The slices and scan paths may be determined using known algorithms.

[0037] A first, test workpiece 200 is built (step B) with the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 using the determined scan paths and based upon the initial positions determined in step A. During or after the build, the test workpiece 200 may warp due to thermal stresses that occur during or after the build. For example, the test workpiece 200 may curl upwards during the build or distort after the build, for example when the test workpiece 200 is released from supports used during the build to hold the test workpiece 200 in place upon a build plate 405.

[0038] The method comprises determining geometry of the test workpiece 200 after the workpiece 200 has undergone distortion due to thermal stresses. The geometry of the test workpiece 200 may be measured before the test workpiece 200 is released from a build plate 405 to which it is attached by supports, after release from the build plate 405 and/or before or after heat treatment. The geometry may be determined by measuring the warped test workpiece 200 with measuring device 501. The measuring device 501 may comprise a surface sensing device, such as contact probe 202 or a non-contact probe. A measured geometric model 300, for example in an STL format, defining the surface geometry of the warped test workpiece 200 is generated from measurement data generated by the measuring device 501.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 2, the computer system 502 is used to determine (step C) slices 301a to 301h based upon the measured geometric model 300. Slices 301a to 301h correspond to slices 101a to 101h in that the slices 301a to 301h are of the same thickness and are calculated for the same z-heights on the workpiece. A difference in the relative positions of slices 101a to 101h and slices 301a to 301h is then determined.

[0040] An adjusted position 401a to 401h is determined for the slices by shifting (step D) the slices 401a′ to 401h′ in an opposite direction to the shift of slices 301a to 301h that resulted from warping of the test workpiece 200. A magnitude of the shift is based upon the difference between the positions of slices 301a to 301h compared to slices 101a to 101h (Step D). Such an adjusted position (as shown in step D) may be used for all instances 400a to 400f of the workpiece in the build volume 404. However in this embodiment, the adjusted positions 401a to 401h comprises a modification to the magnitude of the shift 401a′ to 401h′ shown in step D for each instance 400a to 400f of the workpiece based upon the position of the instance 400a to 400f in the build volume 404. For example, an appropriate correction table/mapping for the build volume 404 can be used to modify the adjusted position for each instance of the workpiece. The correction table/mapping can be determined empirically through the building of appropriate test pieces (which may have a different geometry to the workpiece 100).

[0041] The additive manufacturing apparatus 500 is then controlled to build the workpiece(s) 400 by consolidating material to form the slices at the adjusted positions 401a to 401h. Distortion of the workpiece(s) 400 during the or after the build may then bring the workpiece(s) 400 closer to the nominal dimensions of the workpiece as defined in the initial geometric model 100 when compared to the test workpiece 200.

[0042] FIG. 4 shows the system for implementing the method. The system comprises the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 for building the workpieces 200, 400, the coordinate measuring apparatus 501 for measuring surface geometry of the test workpiece 200 and computer 502. The computer 502 is in communication with the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 and measuring apparatus 501 for sending instructions to the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 and measuring apparatus 501 and receiving measurement data from the measuring apparatus 501. Computer 502 comprises a processor 503 and memory 504. Memory 504 has stored therein a computer program, which, when executed by the processor 503, causes the processor 503 to generate build instructions for instructing the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 to build the test workpiece 200, generate measuring instructions for instructing the measuring apparatus 501 to measure the test workpiece 200, receive measurement data of the test workpiece 200 from the measuring apparatus 501, determine, as described above, adjusted positions 401a to 401h of the workpiece slices and generate instructions for instructing the additive manufacturing apparatus 500 to build the workpiece 400 using the adjusted positions 401a to 401h for the workpiece slices.

[0043] In an alternative embodiment, rather determining the positions of slices 301a to 301h from a measured geometric model 300 (step C), the measurement probe is programmed to directly measure locations on a surface of the test workpiece 200 that corresponds to a vertical z-height of each slice 101a to 101h such that a position of each test workpiece slice can be determined directly from the measurements. A build plate 405 on which the test workpiece is built may be used as a datum from which the z-height is determined.

[0044] Referring to FIG. 5, the user selects a patch 600 on a 3D representation of the workpiece as determined from the initial workpiece model. The patch 600 identifies a region of the workpiece 100 for which a location of the slices is to be adjusted to compensate for warping of the workpiece after the build. For example, a user could form the patch 600 on the 3D representation of the workpiece using an appropriate input device, such as pointing device 601. Computer 502 identifies workpiece slices that intersect the patch 600 and generates measurement instructions for instructing a measurement device 202 to measure points 602 on a test workpiece 200 built based upon the initial positions of the workpiece slices as determined from the initial geometric model. The instructions may include a definition of a path 603 for the measurement device 202 to take when measuring the test workpiece 200 in addition to or instead of points 602.

[0045] The instructions are then sent to a measuring apparatus 501 to cause the measuring apparatus to measure the test workpiece 200 in the manner defined by the instructions. The measuring apparatus 501 may use one or more surfaces of the build plate 405 as a reference datum to allow the measurement apparatus to find the required measurement points 602 on the workpiece 200. From these measurements a position of the test workpiece slices can be determined. These positions can then be used in the same manner as described above with reference to FIG. 3 to determine the adjusted positions. This method of determining the positions of the test workpiece slices may require the measurement of fewer points than a method that recreates a geometric model of the test workpiece.

[0046] This method of measuring workpieces may also be used in other methods, such as for the validation of a workpiece built using an additive manufacturing process. For example, the position of the slices of the workpiece may be compared to a nominal position as defined in the workpiece model and a determination made as to whether the position of the slices is within an acceptable tolerance.

[0047] Alterations and modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. For example, the adjusted positions 401a to 401h may comprise other modifications to the magnitude of the shift 401a′ to 401h′ to take account of other factors affecting the build of the workpiece that differ from the build of the test workpiece 200. For example, a change in other workpieces, such as a different workpiece or number of workpieces, to be built in the build volume together with the workpiece for which a compensation is being made. A change in other workpieces in the build may affect the thermal stresses in the workpiece because of differences in a time between consolidations of layers of the workpiece. Furthermore, if the workpiece is to be built in a different additive manufacturing apparatus to the test workpiece, an appropriate mapping between the two apparatus may be used for determining the adjusted position from the shift 401a′ to 401h′.