Distortion prediction and minimisation in additive manufacturing

• Main Authors: Lathabai, Srinivasarao, Miller, Anthony, Barnes, John, Feng, Yuqing, Nguyen, Vu Thua, Coleman, Gary, Helvey, Amy Marie
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 24.04.2018
• Subjects: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY; ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OFTHREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVEAGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING,STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CALCULATING; CASTING; COMPUTING; CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; POWDER METALLURGY; REGULATING; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING METALLIC POWDER; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A method of minimizing distortion in a workpiece is described that includes utilizing a computer system to carry out finite element analysis on a finite element thermo-mechanical model of the workpiece during and after fabrication by additive manufacturing to predict shape distortion and residual stress development in the workpiece, wherein the fabrication includes the fabrication step of depositing multiple layers of a material melted by a heat source along a deposit path on a substrate, and introducing alterations to the workpiece prior to or during fabrication to compensate for the predicted distortion.