APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL WORK PIECE WITH PROCESS TEMPERATURE CONTROL

• Main Authors: Thiel, Christiane, Wiesner, Andreas, Huebinger, Isabell, Brueck, Daniel
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 17.05.2018
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

An apparatus (10) for producing a three-dimensional work piece (12) comprises a process chamber (14) accommodating a carrier (16) for receiving a raw material powder (18) and an irradiation device (20) for selectively irradiating electromagnetic or particle radiation onto the raw material powder (18) applied onto the carrier (16) in order to produce the work piece (12) from said raw material powder (18) by an additive layer construction method, the irradiation device (20) comprising at least one radiation source (22, 24) and at least one optical unit (26, 32) with a plurality of optical elements (28, 34). A heat transfer arrangement (38) is configured to transfer heat generated by a heat source (40) to the at least one optical unit (26, 32) of the irradiation device (20). The apparatus further comprises a control unit (42) configured to control the heat transfer arrangement (38) so as to adjust a temperature of the at least one optical unit (26, 32) of the irradiation device (20).