Method and apparatus for manufacturing porous three-dimensional articles

A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising one or more executable portions configured for:

• creating a model of a non-porous three-dimensional article comprising a predetermined number of layers with a predetermined thickness;
• creating a model of a porous structure, said creating step comprising the steps of:
• defining a completely randomized three-dimensional space comprising a randomized arrangement of nodes, said randomized arrangement of nodes defined by the steps of:
• a. identifying a predetermined number of said nodes initially arranged randomly in the three-dimensional space of predetermined size;
• b. determining a maximum number of neighbor nodes to a specific node;
• c. skipping a number x of closest neighbors to said specific node where x is a random integer number being ≥0;
• d. connecting each of said maximum neighbor nodes, with the exception of the skipped nodes, to said specific node with a strut;
• and
• e. repeating steps a-d for each node in the three-dimensional space,
• wherein said randomized arrangement of nodes lacks periodicity, such that due to the lacking periodicity, a mechanical strength of a porous structure created therefrom is equal in all directions;
• slicing said completely randomized three-dimensional space into a predetermined number of layers with a predetermined thickness;
• applying one layer of said model of the non-porous three-dimensional article on one layer of said randomized three-dimensional space resulting in a model of a porous layer of said porous three-dimensional article;
• and
• repeating said applying step for all layers of said model of the non-porous three-dimensional article;
• and
• manufacturing the porous three-dimensional article by selectively exposing fusible material to an energy source, so that a layer of fused material corresponds to the model of the porous layer of said porous three-dimensional article.