Systems and methods for measuring radiated thermal energy during an additive manufacturing operation
First Claim
1. An additive manufacturing method, comprising:
- generating a plurality of scans of an energy source across a build plane;
measuring an amount of energy radiated from the build plane during each of the plurality of scans using an optical sensor monitoring the build plane;
determining an area of the build plane traversed during one or more scans of the plurality of scans of the energy source;
determining a thermal energy density for the area of the build plane traversed by the one or more scans of the plurality of scans based upon the amount of energy radiated and the area of the build plane traversed by the plurality of scans;
mapping the thermal energy density to one or more locations of the build plane;
determining that the thermal energy density is characterized by a density outside a range of density values; and
thereafter, adjusting subsequent scans of the energy source across or proximate the one or more locations of the build plane.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This disclosure describes various methods and apparatus for characterizing an additive manufacturing process. A method for characterizing the additive manufacturing process can include generating scans of an energy source across a build plane; measuring an amount of energy radiated from the build plane during each of the scans using an optical sensor; determining an area of the build plane traversed during the scans; determining a thermal energy density for the area of the build plane traversed by the scans based upon the amount of energy radiated and the area of the build plane traversed by the scans; mapping the thermal energy density to one or more location of the build plane; determining that the thermal energy density is characterized by a density outside a range of density values; and thereafter, adjusting subsequent scans of the energy source across or proximate the one or more locations of the build plane.
47 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An additive manufacturing method, comprising:
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generating a plurality of scans of an energy source across a build plane; measuring an amount of energy radiated from the build plane during each of the plurality of scans using an optical sensor monitoring the build plane; determining an area of the build plane traversed during one or more scans of the plurality of scans of the energy source; determining a thermal energy density for the area of the build plane traversed by the one or more scans of the plurality of scans based upon the amount of energy radiated and the area of the build plane traversed by the plurality of scans; mapping the thermal energy density to one or more locations of the build plane; determining that the thermal energy density is characterized by a density outside a range of density values; and thereafter, adjusting subsequent scans of the energy source across or proximate the one or more locations of the build plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An additive manufacturing method, comprising:
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dividing a build plane into a plurality of grid regions, wherein each of the grid region has a grid area; generating a plurality of scans of an energy source across the build plane; generating sensor readings during each of the plurality of scans using an optical sensor; determining a total amount of energy radiated from the build plane during the plurality of scans using the sensor readings; computing a thermal energy density associated with a grid region of the plurality of grid regions based upon the total amount of energy radiated from the grid region and the grid area of the grid region; determining that the thermal energy density associated with the grid region is characterized by a thermal energy density outside a range of thermal energy density values; and thereafter, adjusting an output of the energy source. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An additive manufacturing method, comprising:
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dividing at least a portion of a build plane into a plurality of grid regions each having a grid area; generating a plurality of scans of an energy source across the build plane; generating sensor readings during each of the plurality of scans using an optical sensor; for each of the plurality of scans, mapping portions of each of the sensor readings to a respective one of the plurality of grid regions; for each of the plurality of grid regions; summing the sensor readings mapped to each grid region; and computing a thermal energy density based on the summed sensor readings and the grid area; determining that the thermal energy density associated with one or more of the plurality of grid regions is characterized by a thermal energy density outside a range of thermal energy density values; and thereafter, adjusting an output of the energy source. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification