Method and machine for manufacturing pieces made of ceramic or metallic material by the technique of additive manufacturing

Abstract

The disclosed method includes selecting a suspension ceramic or metal photocurable composition (CPC or MPC); preparing a sacrificial organic material (SOM) forming a photocurable layer destroyed by heating; for manufacturing pieces, on the working tray, forming successive layers of SOM cured by irradiation, the one or more CPC or MPC-based pieces being manufactured by machining a recess in a layer of cured SOM; depositing the CPC or MPC within the recesses; curing the CPC or MPC to obtain a hard horizontal surface level with the adjacent layer of cured SOM, when forming each recess, it is delimited by previously defined patterns, the depth(s) selected in order to ensure the continuity of the one or more pieces to be manufactured; and obtaining one or more green pieces inserted in the SOM, which are subjected to debinding by heating in order to destroy the SOM in which they are trapped.

1 . A machine for manufacturing at least one piece made of at least one of ceramic materials and metallic materials, the machine comprising:
 a frame surrounding a working tray comprising a working surface;   irradiating means facing the working surface;   means for supplying and spreading into layers, on the working tray, a sacrificial photocurable organic material (SOM);   machining means able to form at least one recess in a layer of photocured SOM from the upper part thereof;   means for blowing and sucking the debris resulting from said machining;   means for filling the one or more recesses formed in each layer of photocured SOM in order to complete the layer thus recessed by one of a ceramic photocurable composition (CPC) and a metallic photocurable composition (MPC) able to flow;   irradiating means arranged above the working tray and able to irradiate, for curing each layer of SOM once spread, and irradiate, for curing the CPC or MPC once located within the recesses made in the successive layers of cured SOM.   
     
     
         2 . The machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a gantry having at least one scraping blade and being configured to move on the frame above the working surface such that the free edge of the one or more scraping blades is able to spread the layers of SOM paste on the working surface, or   wherein the SOM is supplied by at least one dispensing nozzle movable in front of at least one scraping blade which spreads the SOM into a uniform layer when passing thereon.   
     
     
         3 . The machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a tank to be filled with a SOM suspension, in which the working tray is configured to be lowered step by step in order to form thereon, at each step, a layer to be irradiated, as well as a recoater in order to ensure that the SOM suspension is dispensed on the entire surface to be irradiated.   
     
     
         4 . The machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the means for supplying at least one CPC or MPC on the working surface are constituted by at least one dispensing nozzle movable above a corresponding recess in order to apply the corresponding composition therein. 
     
     
         5 . The machine according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least nozzle is supplied with one of SOM, CPC, or MPC by a hose connected to a tank. 
     
     
         6 . The machine according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least one nozzle is supplied with one of SOM, CPC, or MPC by a cartridge which forms the upper part of the nozzle, said cartridge containing a stock of the one of SOM, CPC, or MPC and being refillable from a supply tank mountable on the machine, or which when empty is replaceable by a full cartridge, wherein this replacement can be ensured by a robotic arm. 
     
     
         7 . The machine according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least one nozzle is movably mounted by means of a robotic arm. 
     
     
         8 . The machine according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least one nozzle is movably mounted on a gantry which has both a slide that moves the nozzle along the horizontal axis x of the working tray and a slide that moves the nozzle along the horizontal axis y of the working tray. 
     
     
         9 . The machine according to  claim 2 , wherein the at least one nozzle is movably mounted on a gantry having at least one scraping blade that allows displacement thereof along the horizontal axis x of the scraping blade, said gantry also comprising a slide allowing displacement along the horizontal axis y. 
     
     
         10 . The machine of  claim 5 , wherein the tank is a piston supply tank.