Sheet-based additive manufacturing method and system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsOm Prakash, Nishant K. Sinha, Vijaykumar S. Ijeri
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Abstract
A method of fabricating a part includes stacking sheets of fusible material to form a stack. The method also includes directing a laser beam through at least one sheet of the stack. The method also includes transferring energy from the laser beam to multiple locations on at least one interface between adjacent sheets of the stack, according to a predetermined pattern corresponding with a design of the part, to form corresponding multiple molten regions. The molten regions are conjoined together to form a fused portion of the adjacent sheets. The fused portion of the adjacent sheets defines the part.
Claims22
A method of fabricating a part, the method comprising:
- stacking sheets of fusible material to form a stack;
- directing a laser beam through at least one sheet of the stack;
- and
- transferring energy from the laser beam to multiple locations on at least one interface between adjacent sheets of the stack, according to a predetermined pattern corresponding with a design of the part, to form corresponding multiple molten regions, conjoined together to form a fused portion of the adjacent sheets, wherein the fused portion of the adjacent sheets defines the part.
A system for fabricating a part, the system comprising:
- a base, configured to support a stack of sheets of fusible material;
- a first formation laser, configured to generate a first laser beam;
- optics, configured to receive the first laser beam and direct the first laser beam through at least one sheet of the stack of sheets;
- a first separation laser, configured to generate a second laser beam;
- an actuation system, configured to move the base relative to the optics, move the second laser beam relative to the base, and feed at least one sheet of fusible material onto the stack of sheets;
- and
- a controller, operably coupled with the first formation laser, the second formation laser, and the actuation system, and configured to:
- control the first formation laser and the actuation system to direct the first laser beam at multiple locations between sheets of the stack, according to a predetermined pattern corresponding with a design of the part, to form corresponding multiple molten regions, conjoined together to form a fused portion of the sheets, wherein the fused portion of the sheets defines the part;
- and
- control the first separation laser and the actuation system to move the second laser beam relative to the base to score the sheets of the stack at a boundary between the fused portion of the sheets and at least one unfused portion of the sheets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.