Selective laser solidification apparatus and method

Abstract

A selective laser solidification apparatus including: a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited, a gas flow unit for passing a flow of gas over the powder bed along a gas flow direction, a laser scanning unit for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer to form at least one object and a processing unit for selecting a scanning sequence of the laser beam based on the gas flow direction.

Claims

1. A selective laser solidification apparatus, comprising: a build carrier for supporting a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited; a gas flow unit for passing a flow of gas over the powder bed along a gas flow direction; a laser scanner for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer to form one or more objects; and a processor for selecting a scanning sequence of the laser beam based on the gas flow direction.

2. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to select the scanning sequence such that debris produced during a scan of the laser beam in accordance with the scanning sequence is carried away from areas of the powder layer which are yet to be scanned.

3. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to select the scanning sequence such that a first area is scanned before a second area, the first area being located downwind in the gas flow direction of the second area.

4. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the one or more objects are formed through solidification of separate islands in the powder layer, and the processor is arranged to select an order in which the separate islands are formed based upon (i) relative location of the separate islands in the powder layer and (ii) the gas flow direction.

5. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the order in which the separate islands are formed is selected such that debris produced by forming a first one of the separate islands is carried away from an area of the powder layer in which a second one of the separate islands is to be formed.

6. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processor is arranged to select the scanning sequence such that at least part of a first island of the separate islands is formed before at least part of a second island of the second islands, the at least part of the first island being located downwind in the gas flow direction of the at least part of the second island.

7. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, for an arrangement of the separate islands in which a first island of the separate islands is located wholly downwind of a second island of the separate islands, the processor is arranged to select to form the first island completely before forming the second island.

8. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, if a first island of the separate islands is located to at least partially surround a second island of the separate islands such that a first part of the first island is downwind and a second part of the first island is upwind of the second island, the processor is arranged to select to form at least part of the second island in between forming the first and second parts of the first island.

9. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to determine an order in which a plurality of areas of the powder layer should be scanned by projecting a debris fallout zone that would be created when solidifying a first area of the plurality of areas and determining whether a second area of the plurality of areas to be solidified falls within the debris fallout zone, the processor selecting to solidify at least a part of the second area that falls within the debris fallout zone before solidifying the first area.

10. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to select a location on the build platform for one of the objects, the processor selecting the location based upon a debris fallout zone that would be created when solidifying a second one of the objects whose location on the build platform has already been selected.

11. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to select the scanning sequence for the laser beam such that areas of the powder layer are progressively solidified in a direction opposed to the gas flow direction.

12. A processor for use with a selective laser solidification apparatus that comprises (i) a build platform for supporting a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited, (ii) a gas flow unit comprising a gas inlet and a gas outlet located to generate a flow of gas over the powder bed in a gas flow direction, and (iii) a laser scanner for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer, the processor being arranged to: receive geometric data defining at least one object to be built using the selective laser solidification apparatus; select a scanning sequence of the laser beam to form the at least one object based on the gas flow direction; and generate instructions for controlling the selective laser solidification apparatus to build the at least one object based upon the scanning sequence.

13. A selective laser solidification apparatus, comprising: a build platform for supporting a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited; a gas flow unit comprising a gas inlet and a gas outlet located to generate a flow of gas over the powder bed in a gas flow direction; a laser scanner for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer to form one or more objects; and a processor arranged to select a scanning sequence for the laser beam based on the gas flow direction.

14. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is arranged to select the scanning sequence for the laser beam such that areas of the powder layer are progressively solidified in a direction opposed to the gas flow direction.

15. A selective laser solidification apparatus, comprising: a build platform for supporting a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited; a gas inlet and a gas outlet, a gas flow direction being defined by a location of the gas inlet and the gas outlet; an optical module comprising steerable optics for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer to form one or more objects; and a processor arranged to select a scanning sequence for the laser beam based on the gas flow direction.

16. A selective laser solidification apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is arranged to select the scanning sequence for the laser beam such that areas of the powder layer are progressively solidified in a direction opposed to the gas flow direction.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiments of the invention will now be described, as examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a laser solidification apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the laser solidification apparatus from another side;

(4) FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the steps of a method according to the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a plan view of islands to be solidified on a build platform of the apparatus, wherein debris fallout zones have been projected; and

(6) FIG. 5 is a plan view of islands to be solidified on a build platform of the apparatus, wherein debris fallout zones according to a different embodiment of the invention have been projected.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(7) Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a laser solidification apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a build platform 102 for supporting an object 103 built by selective laser melting powder 104. The platform 102 can be lowered in the chamber 101 as successive layers of the object 103 are formed. Layers of powder 104 are formed as the object 103 is built by dispensing apparatus 108 and a wiper 109. For example, the dispensing apparatus 108 may be apparatus as described in WO2010/007396. A laser module 105 generates a laser for melting the powder 104, the laser directed as required by optical module 106 under the control of a computer 130. The laser enters the build chamber via a window 107.

(8) An inlet 112 and outlet 110 are arranged for generating a gas flow across the powder bed formed on the build platform 102. The inlet 112 and outlet 110 are arranged to produce a laminar flow having a flow direction from the inlet to the outlet, as indicated by arrows 118. Gas is re-circulated from the outlet 110 to the inlet 112 through a gas recirculation loop 111. A pump 113 maintains the desired gas pressure at inlet 112 and openings 5, 6. A filter 114 is provided in the recirculation loop 111 to filter from the gas condensate that has become entrapped in the flow. It will be understood that more than one inlet 112 may be provided in the build chamber 101. Furthermore, rather than extending outside of the build chamber 101, the recirculation loop 111 may be contained within the build chamber 101.

(9) Computer 130 comprises a processor unit 131, memory 132, display 133, user input device 134, such as a keyboard, touch screen, etc, a data connection to modules of the laser sintering unit, such as optical module 106 and laser module 105, and an external data connection 135. Stored on memory 132 is a computer program that instructs the processing unit to carry out the method described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

(10) Referring to FIG. 3, geometric data of objects to be built, such as in the form of an STL file, are received 201 by the computer 130, for example over the external data connection 135. The processing unit 131 receives 202 information on the location of the objects on the build platform 102. This location information may already be defined in the STL or the user may the select, using the user input device 135, where each object should be located on the build platform 102. For each layer, the processing unit 131 identifies areas of the layer that are to be solidified and determines 203 an order in which these areas should be scanned by the laser beam. An example of how this may be done is shown in FIG. 4.

(11) FIG. 4 shows five separate areas (islands) 122 to 126 to be solidified for a particular layer. For each island 122 to 126, the processing unit projects a debris fallout zone 122a to 126a in a gas flow direction from the island. The processing unit 131 then determines, for each island 122 to 126, if any other island falls within the debris fallout zone. If so, the processing unit selects to form this other island before forming the island for which the debris fallout zone was determined. For example, in FIG. 4, islands 125 and 126 fall within the fallout zone of island 122 and therefore, are selected to be scanned before island 122. Island 126 also falls within the fallout zone of island 125 and therefore, should be formed before island 125.

(12) Rather than restricting ordering of the build to a complete island, the processing unit 131 may be arranged to select to form, in between forming different parts of the island, at least part of another island. FIG. 4 illustrates two examples of this. In the first example, island 123 is completely surrounded by island 124. Accordingly, island 124 comprises parts that are both upwind and downwind of island 123. In such a scenario, the processing unit 131 selects to process the part of the island that is located downwind of island 123 before scanning island 123 and then scans the part of the island 124 that is upwind of island 123. The part of island 124 that is neither upwind nor downwind of island 123 may be scanned before or after island 123 and the selection of the scanning order of these parts may be based on other criteria, such as scan speed. The different parts of island 124 are illustrated by the dotted lines. In the second example, rather than scanning all of island 125 after scanning island 126, the part of island 125 that is not upwind of island 126 may be scanned before island 126. There may be reasons for scanning part of island 125 ahead of island 126, such as to optimize scan speed, variations in material composition and/or focal position.

(13) In this embodiment, the processing unit 131 carries out this process for each layer. However, in another embodiment, rather than calculating a scanning order for each layer, it may be possible to determine an order for multiple layers from a single analysis. For example, a fallout zone could be determined from a footprint of each object on the build platform 102, the order being determined based upon whether other objects fall within a debris fallout zone calculated based on this footprint. Even though for some layers the debris fallout zone may be smaller than that calculated from the footprint, such a method may provide a reasonable generalization that reduces the amount of processing required in determining an order in which the parts should be built.

(14) The selected order of scanning the parts may be displayed to the user and the user may be able to change the order. The user can then activate the build to cause the processing unit to control 204 the optical module 106 and laser module 105 to scan the powder layers to form the islands in the selected order.

(15) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the debris fallout zones are projected by extending straight lines in the gas flow direction from edges of the islands. However, other projections of the fallout zones could be used. Two examples are shown in FIG. 5. For island 127, a fallout zone 127a is projected as diverging straight lines at a slight angle to the gas flow direction to take into account slight turbulence in the gas flow that may cause the debris to be deposited beyond the outmost edges of the island in a direction perpendicular to the gas flow direction. A similar principal is embodied by island 128 and fallout zone 128a, where an initially curved border to the fallout zone is used to model that locally debris may be thrown out by the impact of the laser beam on the powder layer but further from the island the debris is more likely to be carried away along a straighter path by the gas flow.

(16) In a further embodiment, rather than the processing unit selecting the order in which islands are scanned, a user may select an order in which islands are built. This may be achieved by the processing unit 131 causing the display 133 to display images similar to those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 so that the user can select the order islands are scanned based upon this visualisation of the fallout zones. The processing unit 131 then receives user inputs from the user input device of the order in which islands should be scanned.

(17) It will be understood that in the above description, the islands may come together in earlier or later layers so as to form a single object or may remain separate so as to form one or more separate objects.

(18) It will be understood that alterations and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as defined herein. For example, the invention could be applied to a single island, wherein it is desirable to scan a downwind part of the island ahead of scanning an upwind part of the island.