当前申请(专利权)人地址：
16 Berkley Court, Manor Park, RUNCORN, Cheshire, WA7 1TQ , United Kingdom
摘要：
An additive manufacturing (AM) machine builds container 8 containing structure 12 and unfused powder which is analysed to determine the extent of powder degradation caused by the build process, and to predict powder degradation in another build process. Classes of structure may include thin walls, thick sections (e.g. vertical rods), or downward-facing surfaces (e.g. a lattice structure). An array of containers may include containers having different classes of structure, and containers having different quantities of each class, powder in each being analysed separately. Internal volumes of containers may be the same; volumes of structure may be the same. Extent of degradation may be determined by measuring bulk oxygen content. The container may be a capsule, and have line of weakness 11 at which the container will preferentially break to release encapsulated powder. In an aspect, a container manufactured from powder by an AM process contains a structure and unfused powder.
权利要求：
CLAIMS
1. A method for predicting powder degradation in an AM process comprising the
steps of:
causing an AM machine to build a container containing a structure and
unfused powder;
analysing the unfused powder in the container to determine the extent of
degradation of the powder caused by the build process; and
using the extent of degradation to predict powder degradation in another
build process.
2 A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the AM machine is caused to build two
or more different types of container, each type containing a different structure
and unfused powder, and unfused powder from each type of container is
analysed separately to determine the extent of degradation caused by the build
process, and the extent of degradation of powder from at least some of the
containers is used to predict powder degradation.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the internal volume of each type of
container is substantially the same.
4. A method as claimed in either claim 3 wherein the proportion of the internal
volume of each container occupied by the structure is substantially the same. s. A method as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4 wherein two or more different types
of container contain structures having differing quantities of a class of structural
features.
6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the structures in two more different
types of container are dominated by the class of structural features. 7 A method as claimed in either claim 5 or 6 wherein one or more other
parameters of the different types of container is/are substantially the same. 8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the structure in each of the different
types of container comprises substantially the same amount of one or more other
classes of structural feature.
9. A method as claimed in any of claims 2 to 8 wherein the structures in two, three,
four or more different types of container are respectively dominated by different
classes of structural features.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9 where there are at least two, three, four or more
containers with structures dominated by the same class of structural features. 11. A method as claimed in any of claims 2 to 10 wherein the structures contained
in different types of container are dominated respectively by the following
classes of structural features: thin sections; thick sections; and downwardly
facing surfaces.
12. A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the thin sections are thin wall
structures.
13. A method as claimed in either claim 11 or 12 wherein the features having thin
and thick sections have substantially vertical sides.
14. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13 wherein thin sections are smaller
than and thick sections are larger than about ten times a beam width of the AM
machine.
15. A method as claimed in claim 14 wherein thin sections are up to eight times and
thick sections are at least twelve times the beam width.
16. A method as claimed any of claims 11 to 15 wherein the structure in respective
different types of containers comprises or consists of one or more of:
substantially vertical walls; substantially vertical rods; and a lattice structure. 17. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein unfused powder is
analysed by measuring its bulk oxygen content to determine the extent of
degradation of the powder caused by the build process.
18. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein analysis of unfused
powder from one or more containers is used to obtain information relating to
the rate of degradation caused by building structures comprising or consisting
of classes of structural features and to derive a degradation rate associated with
building one or more classes of structural feature.
19. A method as claimed in claim 18 comprising characterising an article to be built
in the other build process by determining the quantity or relative quantity of the
classes of structural features for which a degradation rate has been obtained
comprised in the article to be built and applying the degradation rates to these
quantities thereby to predict the extent of powder degradation that will be
caused by building the article.
20. A method as claimed in claim 19 wherein two different articles to be built are
characterised so as to predict the relative powder degradation that will be caused
by building the two articles.
21. A method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the same article is characterised in
two or more different build orientations so as to predict the powder degradation
that will be caused by building the article in the different orientations. 22. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the/or each container is
closed and the method comprises the step of breaking open the/or each container
to remove unfused powder.
23. A method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the/or each container is a capsule. 24. A method as claimed in claim 23 comprising the step of removing the capsule
from the AM machine before breaking it open.
25. A container manufactured from powder by an AM process, the container
containing a structure and unfused powder.
26. A container as claimed in claim 25 wherein the container is a capsule. 27. A container as claimed in either claim 25 or 26 comprising one or more
sidewalls which diverge from each other as they rise from a base and
subsequently converge towards one another towards a top.
28. A container as claimed in claim 27 having the form of two opposed cones or
pyramids.
29. A container as claimed in any of claims 25 to 28 wherein a line of weakness is
formed in the container at which the container will preferentially break when
subjected to a force.
30. A container as claimed in claim 29 wherein the line of weakness comprises a
region of reduced wall thickness.
31. A container as claimed in any of claims 25 to 30 comprising a part shaped to be
received by or connect to a tool or apparatus thereby to facilitate removing the
container from a build plate and/or opening the container to release encapsulated
powder.
32. A container as claimed in claim 31 wherein a respective part is provided at each
opposite end of the container.
33. A container as claimed in either claim 31 or 32 wherein the/or each part is
shaped to connect with a spanner, screw driver, key or wrench.
34. A plurality containers as claimed in any of claims 25 to 33 all manufactured
during a single build, the plurality of containers comprising a plurality of types
of container, each type of container containing a different structure. 35. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 34 comprising a plurality of
containers of each different type.
36. A plurality containers as claimed in either claim 34 or 35 wherein the internal
volume of each type of container is substantially the same.
37. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 36 wherein the proportion of the
internal volume of each container occupied by the structure is substantially the
same.
38. A plurality containers as claimed in any of claims 35 to 37 wherein two or more
different types of container contain structures having differing quantities of a
class of structural features.
39. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 38 wherein the structures in two more
different types of container are dominated by the class of structural features. 40. A plurality containers as claimed in either claim 38 or 39 wherein one or more
other parameters of the different types of container is/are substantially the same. 41. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 40 wherein the structure in each type
of container comprises substantially the same amount of one or more other
classes of structural feature.
42. A plurality containers as claimed in any of claims 34 to 41 wherein the
structures in two or more different types of container are respectively dominated
by different classes of structural features.
43. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 42 where there are at least two, three,
four or more different types of container respectively dominated by different
classes of structural features.
44. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 43 where there are at least two, three,
four or more containers with structures dominated by the same class of
structural features.
45. A plurality of containers as claimed in either claim 43 or 44 wherein the
structures contained in different types of container are dominated respectively
by the following classes of structural features: thin sections; thick sections; and
downwardly facing surfaces.
46. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 45 wherein the thin sections are thin
wall structures.
47. A plurality containers as claimed in either claim 45 or 46 wherein the structural
features having thin and thick sections have substantially vertical sides. 48. A plurality containers as claimed in any of claims 45 to 47 wherein thin sections
are smaller than and thick sections are larger than about ten times a beam width
of the AM machine.
49. A plurality containers as claimed in claim 48 wherein thin sections are up to
eight times, and thick sections are at least twelve times the beam width. 50. A plurality containers as claimed in any of claims 45 to 49 wherein the structure
in respective different types of containers comprises or consists of: substantially
vertical walls; substantially vertical rods; and a lattice structure. 51. A set of instructions for causing an AM machine to build a container or plurality
of containers as claimed in any of claims 25 to 50.
52. A set of instructions for causing an AM machine to build a plurality of
containers as claimed in any of claims 51 to 50.