Three-dimensional object forming apparatus and method for forming three dimensional object

A three-dimensional object forming apparatus forming a three-dimensional object by binding powder particles with a curable liquid, the apparatus comprising:

• a powder layer forming unit that spreads a powder to a uniform thickness to form a powder layer;
• a curable liquid ejection head ejecting the curable liquid to the powder layer, the curable liquid ejection head including an ejection nozzle through which the curable liquid is ejected;
• a sectional data producing device producing sectional data at each of a plurality of cross sections of an intended three-dimensional object according to shape data of the intended three-dimensional object;
• and
• a cross-sectional member forming section in which cross-sectional members are formed by ejecting the curable liquid to the powder layer from the curable liquid ejection head according to the sectional data and thus binding the powder layer, the cross-sectional member forming section including a permeation rate controller controlling the permeation rate of the curable liquid to the powder layer.