METHOD AND DEVICES FOR BUILDING COMPRESSION CHAMBERS IN POWDER-BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURE TO RELIEVE A BUILT-OUT PART OF A POWDER EXPOSURE

摘要

The present disclosure relates generally to additive manufacturing (AM) processes and apparatus that use compression chambers to reduce pressure on growing objects. In one aspect, the disclosure provides a method of manufacturing an object (240). The method comprises (a) irradiating a layer of powder (212) in a build area above a build platform (214) to form a fused area; (b) providing a subsequent layer of the powder over the building area; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until at least a portion of the object, at least one chamber (234) and at least one conduit (232) are formed in the building area. The chamber encloses a region of unfused powder and the conduit extends from a passage (220) within the build platform to the chamber. The method also includes (d) removing unfused powder from within the chamber via the conduit and passageway. The disclosure also provides a device (200) for forming compression chambers (234) within an object (240).