Deformation Post-processing of Additive Manufacturing Components

Parts produced by additive manufacturing (AM) often require post processing to improve surface finish and mechanical properties. However, little attention has been given to including deformation in the post processing. Deformation post-processing can address some part size, manufacturing cost, and geometry limitations of 3D printing. Additionally, it could be used to create 3D surfaces using planar manufacturing processes (such as printed circuit board manufacturing). The challenge of deformation post-processing is the design of the correct fabrication state to produce the desired final state and the accurate deformation of the parts to the desired final state. This paper demonstrates the geometric capability, potential applications, and methods for accurately and repeatedly deforming the initial geometry to the desired configuration using features in the parts. Introduction Additive manufacturing (AM) relies on computer control of material bonding/deposition rather than part-specific tooling to define the geometry of the manufactured component. Typically, parts are built up layer by layer until they are complete. After the geometry is formed, the parts are post-processed to achieve the final geometry and properties. The post-processing methods vary with the AM process, but can include removal of support material, infiltration of pores, surface finishing, annealing, and cleaning (Gibson et al., 2010). The AM approach provides substantial freedom in the geometries that are created and eliminates the time requirements of manufacturing specialized tooling. Additionally, some of these processes are capable of integrating multiple materials to create multifunctional components (Wicker and MacDonald 2012, Dollar and Howe 2006, Kataria and Rosen 2001, Malone, 2004). However, the processes themselves are typically much slower than traditional manufacturing methods. Additionally, despite substantial progress, the materials available for AM are more limited than for traditional processes. This paper considers the use of deformation in the post processing of AM components to address some of these challenges. In deformation post-processing a part would be printed in one configuration and then during post-processing deformed into its final configuration. If this approach were applied to printing thin shells (such as what could be produced from sheet metal processing), the printing time and use of support material could be dramatically reduced. As an added benefit, more of the key features could be aligned where printing accuracy and surface finish is often highest. (Xu et al., 1999; Flores et al., 2003; Ollison and Berisso, 2010)