Method of thermally transferring layers in a selective deposition-based additive manufacturing system using conductive heat

A selective deposition-based additive manufacturing system for printing a three-dimensional (3D) part, the additive manufacturing system comprising:

• an electrostatographic imaging engine configured to develop imaged layers of a thermoplastic-based powder;
• a movable build platform;
• a rotatable belt having a transfer surface and an opposing contact surface, wherein the transfer surface is configured to receive the developed layers from the imaging engine in a successive manner, and to convey the received developed layers to the build platform in a successive manner;
• a first heater configured to heat a part build surface of the 3D part, supported by a build platform, by impinging a first heat transfer liquid toward the part build surface to transfer heat to the part build surface;
• a pressing component configured to press one of the developed layers on the transfer surface of the transfer belt into contact with the heated part build surface thereby heating the one of the developed layers to a flowable state by conduction from the part build surface to form a new part build surface;
• a cooling unit configured to cool the new part build surface to remove heat energy;
• and
• a controller configured to control the imaging engine, the moveable build platform, the rotatable belt, the first heater, the pressing component and the cooling unit, wherein for each subsequent one of the developed layers, the controller sequentially controls the first heater to heat the part build surface by impinging the first heat transfer liquid onto the part build surface, the pressing component to press the subsequent one of the developed layers into contact with the part build surface to form a new part build surface, and the cooling unit to cool the new part build surface to remove heat energy to form the 3D part in a layer-by-layer manner.