摘要:
A technique for removing loose powder from the interior surfaces of ceramic molds made using layer manufacturing processes, such as three dimensional printing processes. The interior of a mold is filled with water which is boiled and the particles are entrained in the flow caused by the boiling liquid. In another technique, the mold is immersed in water charged with CO.sub.2 and the pressure rapidly dropped to cause the CO.sub.2 to come out of solution as bubbles which eject the particles. Alternatively, fine particles are introduced into the mold and the mold is agitated to dislodge the particles and the powder so that they can be poured out of the mold. Such technique tends also to remove the surface finish of the mold. Any of the particles which remain can be dissolved in a liquid and removed in the liquid from the mold. Further, the surface finish of the mold can be improved by casting a slip of fine particles on to the surface to form a generally level, and preferably non-conformal, coating on the surfaces.
摘要:
A technique for removing loose powder from the interior surfaces of ceramic molds made using layer manufacturing processes, such as three dimensional printing processes. The interior of a mold can be filled with liquid, such as water, which is boiled by applying microwave energy of a frequency selected to heat the liquid. The particles are entrained in the flow caused by the boiling liquid. Alternatively, fine particles are introduced into the mold and the mold is agitated to dislodge the particles and the powder so that they can be poured out of the mold. Such technique tends also to remove the surface finish of the mold. Any of the particles which remain can be dissolved in a liquid and removed in the liquid from the mold. Further, the surface finish of the mold can be improved by casting a slip of fine particles onto the surface to form a generally level, and preferably non-conformal, coating on the surfaces.
摘要:
A technique for smoothing and otherwise changing the surfaces of porous bodies, such as ceramic molds, made using layer manufacturing processes, such as three dimensional printing processes. The surface finish of the mold can be smoothed by casting a slip of fine particles onto the surface to form a generally level, and preferably non-conformal, coating on the surfaces. In general, the fine particles of the slip are caused to be filtered out from the liquid, so that the fine particles come to rest at or near the surface of the body formed. They are typically, preferentially drawn toward concave regions of the surface, as compared to convex regions, thereby forming a non-conformal coating. Furthermore, other surface properties can be changed by tailoring the slip to produce those properties. The coating can be applied to external surfaces, and internal surfaces, such as would become the surface against which a molded part would be formed.
摘要:
A new mold solves problems that arise from differential changes in geometry inherent to casting metal in a ceramic mold, by control of the internal morphology between the surfaces of the mold that face the casting, and that face the external environment. Layered fabrication techniques are used to create a ceramic mold. For example, an internal geometry composed of a cellular arrangement of voids may be created within the mold wall. Structures may be designed and fabricated so that the ceramic mold fails at an appropriate time during the solidification and/or cooling of the casting. Thus, the casting itself is not damaged. The mold fails to avoid rupture, or even distortion, of the casting. A thin shell of ceramic defines the casting cavity. This shell must be thin enough to fail due to the stresses induced (primarily compressive) by the metal next to it and partly adherent to it. A support structure is provided with a morphology that supports the thin shell that defines the casting geometry, yet that also fails as the casting solidifies and/or cools. Typically, the support structure is a skeletal network with voids therebetween. The skeletal elements may be struts, or sheets or both. At least the following two failure mechanisms may be exploited in the design of the support structure: bending in the structure; and under compressive loads, either by buckling of a support member or, breakage under compressive loading. The failure of the support structure may also be due to a combination of bending and compression.
摘要:
A process for making a component by depositing a first layer of a powder material in a confined region and then depositing a binder material to selected regions of the layer of powder material to produce a layer of bonded powder material at the selected regions. Such steps are repeated a selected number of times to produce successive layers of selected regions of bonded powder material so as to form the desired component. The unbonded powder material is then removed. In some cases the component may be further processed as, for example, by heating it to further strengthen the bonding thereof.
摘要:
A process for making a component by depositing a first layer of a fluent porous material, such as a powder, in a confined region and then depositing a binder material to selected regions of the layer of powder material to produce a layer of bonded powder material at the selected regions. Such steps are repeated a selected number of times to produce successive layers of selected regions of bonded powder material so as to form the desired component. The unbonded powder material is then removed. In some cases the component may be further processed as, for example, by heating it to further strengthen the bonding thereof.
摘要:
A powder bed (32) is built up by repeated deposition of a slurry that contains powder. Layers are made by depositing a liquid dispersion of the desired powdered material, which then slip-casts into the forming powder bed to make a new layer (34). The slurry may be deposited in any suitable manner, such as by raster or vector scanning, or by a plurality of simultaneous jets that coalesce before the liquid slip-casts into the bed, or by individual drops, the deposits of which are individually controlled, thereby generating a regular surface for each layer.
摘要:
A new mold solves problems that arise from differential changes in geometry inherent to casting metal in a ceramic mold, by control of the internal morphology between the surfaces of the mold that face the casting, and that face the external environment. Layered fabrication techniques are used to create a ceramic mold. For example, an internal geometry composed of a cellular arrangement of voids may be created within the mold wall. Structures may be designed and fabricated so that the ceramic mold fails at an appropriate time during the solidification and/or cooling of the casting. Thus, the casting itself is not damaged. The mold fails to avoid rupture, or even distortion, of the casting. A thin shell of ceramic defines the casting cavity. This shell must be thin enough to fail due to the stresses induced (primarily compressive) by the metal next to it and partly adherent to it. A support structure is provided with a morphology that supports the thin shell that defines the casting geometry, yet that also fails as the casting solidifies and/or cools. Typically, the support structure is a skeletal network with voids therebetween. The skeletal elements may be struts, or sheets or both. At least the following two failure mechanisms may be exploited in the design of the support structure: bending in the structure; and under compressive loads, either by buckling of a support member or, breakage under compressive loading. The failure of the support structure may also be due to a combination of bending and compression.
摘要:
A process for making a component includes the steps of: depositing a layer of a porous material; positioning a mask near to the deposited layer; applying a bonding material that will cause any contacted portions of the porous material to become bonded together, over and through the mask, such that the bonding material is applied to one or more selected regions of the recently deposited layer of porous material; and repeating the foregoing three steps a selected number of times to produce a selected number of successive layers, said bonding material causing each of said successive layers to become bonded to an adjacent layer. Any unbonded porous material that is not at the selected regions is easily removed. The mask may be an open stencil mask, or a screen mask. If open stencil masks are used, there may be more than one mask for a single layer of porous material. Successive masks may be positioned by a continuous sheet, a rotating disk, or individually, such as by a robot. The porous material may be metallic or ceramic or plastic, and it may be loose powder or loosely bonded powder. The bonding material may be applied as droplets or a jet. Droplets may be applied by sonic or ultrasonic atomizer, through a nozzle, a simple orifice, or by an electrostatic arrangement, such as in electrostatic painting. The mask may be positioned in contact with the powder material or spaced away therefrom.
摘要:
An implantable magnetic relaxation sensor is provided that comprises superparamagnetic nanoparticies functionalized with one or more agents that bond with a biomarker of interest. The sensor is configured for minimally-invasive implantation into a human or animal, and is configured to indicate the implanted sensor's cumulative exposure to the biomarker of interest by analysis using magnetic resonance relaxometry.