3D-PRINTING METHOD AND 3D-PRINTING DEVICE

Abstract

A 3D-printing method for the additive production of components includes supplying a modelling material to a 3D-printing device, determining quality characteristics of the modelling material using a monitoring device, analyzing a product quality of the modelling material, using an analysis device, on the basis of the determined quality characteristics, depositing and liquefying the modelling material layer by layer, and curing the liquefied modelling material layer by layer.

Claims

1. A 3D-printing method for additive production of components, the method comprising: supplying a modelling material to a 3D-printing device; determining quality characteristics of the modelling material using a monitoring device; analyzing a product quality of the modelling material, using an analysis device, on a basis of determined quality characteristics; depositing and liquefying the modelling material layer by layer; and curing the liquefied modelling material layer by layer.

2. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein determining quality characteristics of the modelling material and analyzing product quality of the modelling material are carried out during the supply.

3. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the modelling material is supplied continuously.

4. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the quality characteristics of the modelling material are determined for only a portion of the supplied modelling material by random sampling.

5. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the layer-by-layer depositing and liquefying are stopped when the analyzed product quality does not satisfy preset quality conditions.

6. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the modelling material is purified when the analyzed product quality does not satisfy preset quality conditions.

7. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein determining the quality characteristics includes a method from the group consisting of spectrometric methods, gas-sensor methods, optical methods and electrical methods.

8. The 3D-printing method of claim 7, wherein the method is selected from the group consisting of X-ray spectrometric methods, electron-spectrometric methods and infrared-spectrometric methods.

9. The 3D-printing method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises an eddy current method.

10. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the modelling material is supplied in a form of powder.

11. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the modelling material is selected from the group consisting of metal materials, metal material combinations and metal alloys.

12. The 3D-printing method of claim 11, wherein the modelling material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, nickel and alloys thereof.

13. The 3D-printing method of claim 1, wherein the quality characteristics are selected from the group consisting of a degree of purity, a degree of moistness, a degree of contamination with foreign bodies and a degree of contamination with substances.

14. A 3D-printing device for the additive production of components using a method comprising: supplying a modelling material to a 3D-printing device; determining quality characteristics of the modelling material using a monitoring device; analyzing a product quality of the modelling material, using an analysis device, on a basis of determined quality characteristics; depositing and liquefying the modelling material layer by layer; and curing the liquefied modelling material layer by layer; wherein the device comprises: a monitoring device which is configured to determine the quality characteristics of the modelling material; and an analysis device which is configured to analyze the product quality of the modelling material on the basis of the determined quality characteristics.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The present disclosure will be described in greater detail below on the basis of the embodiments shown in the schematic drawings, in which:

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a 3D-printing device for carrying out a 3D-printing method according to one embodiment of the disclosure herein; and

[0028] FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of the 3D-printing method which is carried out by the 3D-printing device from FIG. 1.

[0029] The accompanying drawings are intended to provide further understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure herein. They illustrate embodiments and are used, in conjunction with the description, to explain principles and concepts of the disclosure herein. Other embodiments and many of the above-mentioned advantages can be found from the drawings. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily shown to scale with respect to one another.

[0030] In the figures of the drawings, elements, features and components which are like, functionally like or have the same effect—unless otherwise specified—are each provided with the same reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a 3D-printing device 100 for carrying out a 3D-printing method M according to one embodiment of the disclosure herein. FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a 3D-printing method M of this type.

[0032] The 3D-printing method is used for the additive production of components 1. For this purpose, the 3D-printing method M includes, in M1, supplying a modelling material 2 to a 3D-printing device 100. Furthermore, in M2, the 3D-printing method M further comprises determining quality characteristics of the modelling material 2 using a monitoring device 5 and, in M3, analyzing a product quality of the modelling material 2, using an analysis device 13, on the basis of determined quality characteristics. In addition, in M4, the 3D-printing method M comprises depositing and liquefying M4 the modelling material 2 layer by layer, and in M5, curing M5 the liquefied modelling material 2 layer by layer.

[0033] In this case, the modelling material 2 can be a plastics material or for example selected from the group comprising metal materials, metal material combinations and metal alloys. In particular, the modelling material 2 can be for example titanium, aluminum, nickel, steel and/or an alloy or material combination thereof. For example, the modelling material 2 can be an aluminum/silicon powder, for example AlSi10Mg, or a more advanced material or a material mixture such as Scalmalloy® or the like. Furthermore, the modelling material 2 can be supplied and deposited in the form of a powder.

[0034] In principle, the present disclosure provides various possibilities for liquefying the modelling material 2, in which heat can be locally introduced in a targeted manner into deposited modelling material 2. In particular, the use of lasers and/or particle beams, for example electron beams, is advantageous, since in this case, heat can be generated in a very targeted and controlled manner. The 3D-printing method M can thus be selected for example from the group comprising selective laser sintering, selective laser melting, selective electron-beam sintering and selective electron-beam melting or the like. However, in principle, any desired additive method can be used. In the following, the 3D-printing method M is described by way of example in connection with selective laser melting (SLM), in which the modelling material 2 is applied in powder form to a work platform 9 and is liquefied in a targeted manner by local laser radiation by a laser beam 6, resulting in a solid, continuous component 1 after cooling.

[0035] The 3D-printing method M is carried out by the 3D-printing device 100 in FIG. 1. An energy source in the form of a laser 12, for example a Nd:YAG laser, transmits a laser beam 6 selectively onto a specific part of a powder surface of the pulverulent modelling material 2, which rests on a work platform 9 in an operating chamber 10. For this purpose, an optical deflecting-device or a scanner module such as a movable or tiltable mirror 7 can be provided, which deflects the laser beam 6 according to the tilt position thereof onto a specific part of the powder surface of the modelling material 2. At the point of incidence of the laser beam 6, the modelling material 2 is heated, and so the powder particles are locally melted and form an agglomerate upon cooling. The laser beam 6 scans the powder surface on the basis of a digital production model which is for example provided and optionally processed by a CAD (computer-aided design) system. After the selective melting and local agglomeration of the powder particles in the surface layer of the modelling material 2, excess modelling material 2 which is not agglomerated can be discarded. The work platform 9 is then lowered by a lowering piston 11 (see arrow in FIG. 1), and by a powder supply 8 or another suitable device, new modelling material 2 is transferred from a reservoir into the operating chamber 10. In order to accelerate the melting process, the modelling material 2 can be preheated by infrared light to a working temperature which is just below the melting temperature of the modelling material 2. In this way, in an iterative generative construction method, a three-dimensional sintered or “printed” component” 1 is produced from agglomerated modelling material 2. In this case, the surrounding pulverulent modelling material 2 can be used to support the part of the metal component 1 that has been constructed up to that point. By the continuous downwards movement of the work platform 9, the component 1 is formed in a layer-by-layer model generation.

[0036] The 3D-printing method M is characterised in that modelling material 2 is examined and analyzed during the supply into the powder supply 8 before the depositing. In this case, all or a portion of the modelling material 2 is conducted through a monitoring device 5 (see arrows in FIG. 1), in which specific quality characteristics of the modelling material 2 are determined. For example, a specific fraction of the modelling material 2 can be continuously branched off, and the quality thereof can be evaluated. A quality characteristic of this type can be for example a degree of purity, a degree of moistness, a degree of contamination with foreign bodies or with other substances, or another representative and measurable variable which provides information about the grade or quality of the modelling material 2. Other quality characteristics which are considered include for example the particle size of the powder. For example, a pulverulent modelling material can be loaded with moisture, water, oils, fats, etc., wherein the severity of the impurity can accordingly be indicated quantitatively by a suitable method. Provided methods include spectrometric methods, gas-sensor methods, optical methods, electrical methods and other methods which are familiar to a person skilled in the art. The method can be selected for example from the group comprising X-ray spectrometric methods, electron-spectrometric methods and infrared-spectrometric methods or the like. Possible X-ray spectrometric methods are in particular X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray emission spectroscopy, photoemission spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and for example wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. To represent this, FIG. 1 shows analytical radiation 3, which is directed onto the modelling material 2 (in this case a powder), a corresponding detector 4 detecting radiation emanating from the irradiated powder. However, optical methods, electrical eddy-current methods or gas-sensor methods using a chemical sensor or an electronic nose can also be used. Non-destructive methods in which all of the modelling material 2 is also still available for the subsequent printing method can be particularly advantageous.

[0037] On the basis of the quality characteristics 3 determined in such a way, the product quality of the modelling material 2 is analyzed by the analysis device 13. By communication between the monitoring device 5 and the analysis device 13 (see arrows in FIG. 1), it is possible to analyze the components of the supplied modelling material 2—and if present—undesirable chemical elements, and to detect other foreign substances or foreign particles or material residues. Forming an evaluation result can include for example multivariate, that is to say multidimensional, analysis methods, for example of the measured radiation spectrum based on a chemometric method. Known mathematical or statistical tools from the field of multivariate data analysis can thus be used, and so even small impurities can be made quick to detect. A person skilled in the art will be able to accordingly choose between various analysis methods in order to find a compromise between precision and complexity, that is to say ultimately the duration, of the analysis, which compromise is suitable for each application. In developments of the 3D-printing device 100, different analysis methods and different determination methods can be implemented, for example the methods can be stored in the storage, it being possible for the user to choose from various options. The analysis device 13 can now pause or stop the printing method completely automatically or semi-automatically or by a manual input by a communication and provide the operator with feedback about the product quality. After the evaluation of the analysis result, the 3D-printing device can be cleaned of impurities. Alternatively or additionally, the portion of the modelling material 2 having insufficient product quality can be purified and/or otherwise processed. Subsequently, it is possible to continue the printing. In particular, the modelling material 2 which is purified in such a way can continue to be used.

[0038] The present disclosure thus implements online quality monitoring of the supplied modelling material 2, which makes it possible to still examine the used modelling material 2 during the actual printing method and, on the basis of the result, optionally to stop the printing and carry out an exchange and/or processing of the material. In addition, for example by online checking of this type, the uniformity of material batches can be determined and analyzed, as a result of which the problem of differing batches can ultimately be better defined and assessed.

[0039] The described method can generally be used in all sectors of the transport industry, for example for motorised road vehicles, for rail vehicles or for watercraft, but also in the civil engineering and mechanical engineering industry.

[0040] The subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented in software in combination with hardware and/or firmware. For example, the subject matter described herein can be implemented in software executed by a processor or processing unit. In one exemplary implementation, the subject matter described herein can be implemented using a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps. Exemplary computer readable mediums suitable for implementing the subject matter described herein include non-transitory devices, such as disk memory devices, chip memory devices, programmable logic devices, and application specific integrated circuits. In addition, a computer readable medium that implements the subject matter described herein can be located on a single device or computing platform or can be distributed across multiple devices or computing platforms.

[0041] In the detailed description above, various features for improving the stringency of the representation have been summarized in one or more examples. However, it should be clear in this case that the above description is of a purely illustrative, but in no way limiting nature. The description is used to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents of the various features and embodiments. Many other examples are immediately clear to a person skilled in the art on account of their expert knowledge in view of the above description.

[0042] The embodiments have been selected and described in order to be able to show, as well as possible, the principles on which the disclosure herein is based and the possible applications thereof in practice. Consequently, people skilled in the art can optimally modify and use the disclosure herein and the various embodiments thereof with respect to intended use. In the claims and the description, the terms “containing” and “comprising” are used as neutral linguistic terminology for the corresponding term “including”. Furthermore, use of the terms “a” and “an” is not intended to fundamentally exclude a plurality of features and components described in this way.

[0043] While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a”, “an” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.