Additive manufacturing process

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for altering the bead profile for using 3D printing to improve the shear strength of a so manufactured product by altering the bead height of adjacent beads or in adjacent layers such that either the height or the centers of the beads between adjacent layers are altered. This is achieved by either height reduction or by flow rates to alter the height or positioning of the beads by altering the bead profiles the shear strength between adjacent layers in the X-Y plane is improved. The present invention is equally applicable to increasing shear strength in the Y-Z plane or the X-Z plane as desired.

Having, thus, described the invention, what is claimed is: 
     
         1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . In a method of additive manufacturing for improving the shear strength along the Z vertical axis of a three-dimensional object, the improvement comprising:
 lowering the bead height of a material to be printed by reducing the flow rate of the material to be printed by one-half of the flow rate of the material to that of adjacent beads.   
     
     
         5 . In a method of additive manufacturing for improving the shear strength in a vertical axis of a three-dimensional object, the improvement comprising:
 lowering by one-half of the bead height, of adjacent beads by doubling the feed rate for the reduced height bead to that of the flow rate for the adjacent height beads.   
     
     
         6 . The improvement of  claim 4  which further comprises creating a valley between spaced apart beads in any one layer. 
     
     
         7 . The improvement of  claim 6  wherein the reduced bead height is created in the top and bottom bead layers of the object to be printed.