Manufacture of field activated components by stereolithography

摘要

There is disclosed stereolithographic manufacture of more complex components including at least one active material without the need for fabrication. Fabrication can introduce component discontinuities that hinder performance of the final component. Thus, some embodiments entail a method of manufacture for complex, field activated components such as piezoelectric or magnetostrictive sensors or actuators.

主权项

1. A method of producing a three dimensional sensor device or actuator device comprising:
mixing a powder of an active material into a monomer or oligomer resin containing a photoinitiator and a dispersant to form a mixture, wherein the active material includes
an electrostrictive material and a combination of a piezoelectric material and carbon nanotubes, ora combination of a piezoelectric material and carbon nanotubes; and using a stereolithography process, including providing an energy dose to the mixture of active material and resin to polymerize the mixture, to form a three dimensional device having a piezoelectric and/or electrostrictive behavior.