Enhancement of thermal properties of tooling made by solid free form fabrication techniques
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A process for fabricating a part having an internal void, comprising the steps of:
- depositing a powder onto a surface in layers;
selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving other regions of each layer of the powder unbound to provide an intermediate part having an internal void;
substantially simultaneously with said selectively binding step, selectively depositing an infiltration stop material adjacent the region defining a wall of the internal void;
providing an outlet from said unbound regions that will form said void;
removing any unbound powder to form said void; and
processing the intermediate part to attain full density by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant, whereby said infiltration stop material prevents infiltration of the infiltrant into the internal void, to provide a finished part having an internal void.
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Abstract
Processes for providing enhanced thermal properties of tooling, particularly metal and metal/ceramic molds, made by solid free form fabrication techniques, such as the three dimensional printing process, and the tooling made by these processes are disclosed. The methods of enhancing thermal properties include incorporating integral contour coolant channels into the mold, adding surface textures to the coolant channels, creating high thermal conductivity paths between the surfaces and the coolant channels, and creating low thermal inertia regions in the mold.
198 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A process for fabricating a part having an internal void, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving other regions of each layer of the powder unbound to provide an intermediate part having an internal void; substantially simultaneously with said selectively binding step, selectively depositing an infiltration stop material adjacent the region defining a wall of the internal void; providing an outlet from said unbound regions that will form said void; removing any unbound powder to form said void; and processing the intermediate part to attain full density by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant, whereby said infiltration stop material prevents infiltration of the infiltrant into the internal void, to provide a finished part having an internal void. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A process for fabricating tooling having a channel therethrough, said process, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving other regions of each layer of the powder unbound to provide an intermediate part, having an internal channel having a wall; removing said unbound powder to form said channel; and processing the intermediate part to attain full density by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant, while preventing infiltration of the infiltrant into the internal channel, to provide the finished tool element having an internal channel. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A process for fabricating a part having an internal void, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving other regions of each layer of the powder unbound to provide an intermediate part having an internal void; removing said unbound powder to form said channel; and processing the intermediate part by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant while providing a pressure differential between an atmosphere in the internal void and the infiltrant of a value preselected to prevent infiltration of the infiltrant into the void to provide a finished part having an internal void. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving the powder unbound in other regions to provide an intermediate part with a heat transfer channel having an inlet and an outlet and a configuration that conforms to a surface portion of a finished tool element; removing said unbound powder to form said heat transfer channel; and processing the intermediate part to provide the finished tool element having regions of different thermal properties, by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant while providing a pressure differential of a value preselected to prevent infiltration of the infiltrant into the heat transfer channel, the pressure differential being provided by disposing the intermediate part on a stilt assembly formed of a material through which the infiltrant rises by capillarity, a lower portion of the stilt assembly being placed in a pool of the infiltrant, the stilt assembly having a height preselected to cause the infiltrant to infiltrate the intermediate part and to maintain the heat transfer channel free of infiltrant. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A process for fabricating a part having an internal void, said process, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving other regions of each layer of the powder unbound to provide an intermediate part having an internal void; providing at least one opening to said unbound regions that will form said void; and removing unbound powder to form the void by immersing the intermediate part in a vessel of water and CO2 dissolved in the water and reducing the pressure inside the vessel to cause the CO2 to come out of solution as bubbles, thereby pushing the powder out of at least one opening to provide the intermediate part having an internal void; and infiltrating said intermediate part with an infiltrant to form a finished part having said internal void.
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28. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder to provide an intermediate part, wherein the selective binding step further comprises depositing a high thermal conductivity material in one of the regions to form a high thermal conductivity region; and processing the intermediate part to attain full density to provide a finished tool element having regions of differing thermal properties by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A process for fabricating a part, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder leaving the powder unbound in one of the regions to form a pocket, to provide an intermediate part; and processing the intermediate part by removing the powder from the pocket and filling the pocket with an infiltrant having a high thermal conductivity to provide a finished part having regions of differing thermal properties. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder to provide an intermediate part, wherein the selective binding step further comprises leaving the powder unbound in a first one of the regions to form a channel having two open ends and in a second one of the regions to form a channel having one open end; and processing the intermediate part to attain full density to provide a finished tool element having regions of differing thermal properties, the step of processing the intermediate part further comprising removing the unbound powder, sealing the open end of the second one of the channels, and infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant having a high thermal conductivity, and draining the infiltrant from the first one of the channels to form a heat transfer channel.
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34. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder to provide an intermediate part, wherein the selective binding step further comprises selectively depositing a compositional gradient of a high conductivity material in one of the regions to form a region having a thermal conductivity gradient; and processing the intermediate part to attain full density to provide a finished tool element having regions of differing thermal properties by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant.
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35. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder to provide an intermediate part, leaving the powder unbound in selected ones of the regions to form a cellular network, the cellular network having a lower thermal inertia than other regions of the tool element; and processing the intermediate part to attain full density to provide a finished tool element having regions of differing thermal properties by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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37. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising:
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depositing a material onto a surface in layers; selectively binding the material in selected regions and leaving the material unbound in further selected regions to form a cellular network, the cellular network comprising a region of lower thermal inertia; and processing said cellular network to attain full density by infiltrating the cellular network with an infiltrant to provide a finished tool element having a region of lower thermal inertia than an adjacent region. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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41. A process for fabricating a part having an internal void, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving the powder unbound in other regions to provide an intermediate part with an internal void; and providing an outlet to said unbound regions that will form said void; removing any unbound powder to form said void; processing the intermediate part to provide a finished part having an internal void, by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant while providing a pressure differential of a value preselected to prevent infiltration of the infiltrant into the void, the pressure differential being provided by disposing the intermediate part on a stilt assembly formed of a material through which the infiltrant rises by capillarity, a lower portion of the stilt assembly being placed in a pool of the infiltrant, the stilt assembly having a height preselected to cause the infiltrant to infiltrate the intermediate part and to keep the infiltrant out of the void.
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42. A process for fabricating a part having an internal void, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving the powder unbound in other regions to provide an intermediate part with an internal void having a characteristic radius r; and providing an outlet to said unbound regions that will form said void; removing any unbound powder to form said void; and processing the intermediate part to provide a finished part having an internal void, by infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant while providing a pressure differential of a value preselected to prevent infiltration of the infiltrant into the void, the pressure differential being provided by disposing a lower portion of the intermediate part in fluid communication with a pool, having a free melt surface, of infiltrant that will rise through said intermediate part by capillarity, and orienting said part such that said void is spaced above said free melt surface a distance ##EQU2## to cause the infiltrant to infiltrate the intermediate part and to maintain the void free of infiltrant, where ρ
is the density of the molten infiltrant, γ
is the surface tension of said molten infiltrant, θ
is the contact angle of the infiltrant against said walls of said void, and g is the acceleration of gravity. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder to provide an intermediate part, by leaving the powder unbound in a first region to form a first channel and in a second region to form a second channel; providing at least one opening in each of said first and second regions that will form said channels; removing the unbound powder to form said first and second channels; sealing all openings of the second channel; infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant having a high thermal conductivity; and draining the infiltrant from the first channel to form an open internal channel; thereby processing the intermediate part to attain full density to provide a finished tool element having regions of differing thermal properties.
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45. A process for fabricating tooling having enhanced thermal properties, comprising:
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depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder to provide an intermediate part, by leaving the powder unbound in a first region to form a channel; providing at least one opening in said regions that will form said channel; removing the unbound powder to form said channel; sealing all openings of the channel; and infiltrating the intermediate part with an infiltrant having a high thermal conductivity; thereby processing the intermediate part to attain full density to provide a finished tool element having regions of differing thermal properties.
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46. A process for fabricating tooling of a material having a thermal diffusivity of α
- to be used in a molding cycle having a duration of τ
per part to be molded, having an internal heat transfer channel therethrough, said process comprising;depositing a powder onto a surface in layers; selectively binding regions of each layer of the powder and leaving other regions of each layer of the powder unbound to provide an intermediate part having an internal heat transfer channel that is spaced away from said surface portion less than twice (α
τ
)-1/2 ;removing any unbound powder to form said heat transfer channel; and densifying the intermediate part to attain full density of a finished tool. - View Dependent Claims (47)
- to be used in a molding cycle having a duration of τ
Specification