1995 / Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings
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Author Melissa Orme, Changzheng Huang University of California
Source Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings, 1995, pp 88-95
Abstract A droplet-based solid freeform fabrication technique for the fast manufacture of metallic structural components directly from CAD information is under development. The new technique is similar to StereoLithography, in that the final structure is made micro-layer by micro-layer from CAD information. In droplet-based solid freeform manufacturing, metallic structural are fabricated by depositing precisely controlled molten nano-liter droplets onto a temperature controlled substrate. This paper is aimed at describing the thermal design parameters that are critical to the successful implementation of droplet based solid freeform fabrication. The unique feature of the technique under development is the fact that the molten droplet streams can be precisely- controlled and manipulated. Precise control refers to droplet streams which have an angular stability of the order of 1 micro-radian, and speed dispersions as low as 3 X 10-7 times the average stream speed. Droplet generation can be manipulated to prod uce ultra-uniform droplets at frequencies which would otherwise yield highly- non-uniform droplet streams with conventional droplet formation methods (i.e., Raleigh breakup). Moreover. precise control refers to the ability to "customize" the droplet stream configuration according to the desired material property,- (i.e., gradient materials) and three-dimensional geometry of the structural component. Customized droplet streams include streams with two or more droplet sizes and/or separations. The sizes and separations can be predicted (in order of exact occurrence) from a numerical model based on conservation of momentum which requires knowledge of the applied disturbance given to the molten fluid prior to droplet formation. (Auth abstract) [References: 14]
Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings can be obtained from: The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
or contact:
The University of Texas at Austin
Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication / Texas Materials Institute
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
c/o The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
MC C2200
Austin, TX 78712-1063 USA
512-471-3026; 512-471-7681 FX; Email: sffsymp@uts.cc.utexas.edu