Method for manufacturing a part

A compaction system for a printed part manufactured layer-upon-layer using Additive Manufacturing technology, wherein the system comprises:

• an elastomeric enclosure printed layer-upon-layer together with the printed part, wherein the elastomeric enclosure encloses the printed part and the elastomeric enclosure has an inside surface conforming to an outside surface of the printed part, and a gap is between the inside surface of the elastomeric enclosure and the outside surface of the printed part;
• a heater configured to heat and maintain the printed part and the elastomeric enclosure at an operating temperature;
• a vacuum system configured to apply a vacuum through an to the gap, and
• a controller configured to control the vacuum system to apply a vacuum to the gap and collapse the elastomeric enclosure onto the printed part, and to control the heater to heat the elastomeric enclosure and printed part while the vacuum is applied to the gap.

A method comprising:

• applying additive manufacturing to print a part;
• applying the additive manufacturing to print an enclosure for the part, wherein the enclosure is printed from an elastomeric print filament and the enclosure is printed to have an inside surface shaped to conform to an outer surface of the part with a gap between the outer surface of the part and the inside surface of the enclosure;
• maintaining the part and the elastomeric enclosure at an operating temperature;
• applying a vacuum to the gap to collapse the enclosure onto the outer surface of the part while the part is at the operating temperature;
• and
• for a determined period, maintaining the vacuum to cause the collapsed enclosure to press against the outer surface of the part while also maintaining the part at the operating temperature.