Object production

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for producing an object, the method comprising: performing an Additive Manufacturing process to produce an intermediate object from provided metal or alloy, whereby the intermediate object comprises regions having a contaminant concentration level above a threshold level; based upon one or more parameters, determining a temperature and a duration; and performing, on the intermediate object, a contaminant dispersion process by, for a duration that is greater than or equal to the determined duration, heating the intermediate object to a temperature that is greater than or equal to the determined temperature and less than the melting point of the metal or alloy, the contaminant dispersion process being performed so as to disperse, within the intermediate object, a contaminant from regions of high contaminant concentration to regions of low contaminant concentration until the intermediate object comprises no regions having a contaminant concentration level above the threshold level.

1 . A method of producing an object, the method comprising:
 providing some metal or alloy;   performing, using an Additive Manufacturing apparatus, in an environment containing an amount of a reactive contaminant, an Additive Manufacturing process to produce an intermediate object from the provided metal or alloy, wherein the Additive Manufacturing processes includes heating the provided metal or alloy thereby causing at least some of the metal or alloy to react with the reactive contaminant in the environment so as to produce contaminated metal or alloy, the intermediate object comprises the contaminated metal or alloy, and the intermediate object comprises one or more regions in which concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy is above a threshold level;   based upon the threshold level and a concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy within one or more of the regions, determining a temperature and a duration; and   sintering the intermediate object for a duration that is greater than or equal to the determined duration at a temperature that is greater than or equal to the determined temperature and less than the melting point of the metal or alloy so as to disperse the contaminated metal or alloy from the regions to one or more further regions within the intermediate object having a lower concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy until the intermediate object comprises no regions having a concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy above the threshold level, thereby producing the object.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the sintering is performed such that the contaminated metal or alloy is substantially uniformly distributed within the bulk of the object. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises, after the sintering process, performing, on the intermediate object, a hot isostatic pressing process. 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the determined temperature is between 1300° C. and the melting point of the provided metal or alloy. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the determined duration is greater than or equal to one hour. 
     
     
         7 - 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the metal or alloy is Ti-6Al-4V. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein, the metal or alloy is provided in powder form and the Additive Manufacturing process is a powder bed Additive Manufacturing process. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the reactive contaminant is oxygen. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the intermediate object comprises a plurality of open cavities, and the method further comprises:
 performing a sealing process on the intermediate object to seal the openings of the open cavities, thereby forming a plurality of closed cavities; and   reducing the sizes of the closed cavities by performing a consolidation process on the intermediate object having the closed cavities.   
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the produced object comprises a plurality of open cavities, and the method further comprises:
 performing a sealing process on the object to seal the openings of the open cavities, thereby forming a plurality of closed cavities; and   reducing the sizes of the closed cavities by performing a consolidation process on the object having the closed cavities.   
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of reducing the sizes of the closed cavities is performed until the closed cavities are no longer present. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of performing a consolidation process comprises performing a hot isostatic pressing process. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of performing a sealing process comprises plastically deforming the surface of the object. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein plastically deforming the surface of the object comprises shot peening the surface of the object. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein the step of performing a sealing process further comprises sintering the object after the surface of the object has been plastically deformed. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the method further comprises determining a concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy within a region of the intermediate object; and   the determined temperature and duration are determined using the determined contaminant concentration level.   
     
     
         21 . A method according to  claim 20 , wherein the determining of a concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy within a region of the intermediate object comprises determining the maximum concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy within the intermediate object. 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . Apparatus for producing an object, the apparatus comprising:
 Additive Manufacturing apparatus configured to, using some provided metal or alloy, in an environment containing an amount of a reactive contaminant, perform an Additive Manufacturing process to produce an intermediate object from the provided metal or alloy, wherein the Additive Manufacturing process include heating the provided metal or alloy thereby causing at least some of the metal or alloy to react with the reactive contaminant in the environment so as to produce a contaminated metal or alloy, and the intermediate object comprises one or more regions in which a concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy is above a threshold level;   means for, based upon the threshold level and the concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy within one or more of the regions, determine a temperature and a duration; and   sintering means configured to sinter the intermediate object for a duration that is greater than or equal to the determined duration at a temperature that is greater than or equal to the determined temperature and less than the melting point of the metal or alloy so as to disperse the contaminated metal or alloy from the regions to one or more further regions within the intermediate object having a lower concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy until the intermediate object comprises no regions having a concentration level of the contaminated metal or alloy above the threshold level, thereby producing the object.   
     
     
         24 . An object that has been produced using a method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         25 - 26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of performing comprises:
 performing, using the Additive Manufacturing apparatus, in the environment containing an amount of the reactive contaminant, an initial Additive Manufacturing process, the initial Additive Manufacturing processes including heating the provided metal or alloy, thereby causing at least some of the metal or alloy to react with the reactive contaminant in the environment so as to produce the contaminated metal or alloy; and   performing, using the Additive Manufacturing apparatus, a further Additive Manufacturing process, to produce the intermediate object from metal or alloy recycled from the initial Additive Manufacturing process, the metal or alloy recycled from the initial Additive Manufacturing process including the contaminated metal or alloy.