UNITARY CONDUIT FOR TRANSPORTING FLUIDS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING

摘要

A method for fabricating a unitary conduit (105) is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of determining three-dimensional information of the unitary conduit (105) having at least one flow passage (108), converting the three-dimensional information into a plurality of slices that each define a cross-sectional layer of the unitary conduit (105), and successively forming each layer of the unitary conduit (105) by fusing a metallic powder using laser energy. A unitary conduit (105) is disclosed, comprising a body (106) and a flow passage (108), wherein the flow passage (108) and the body (106) have a unitary construction, and made by using a rapid manufacturing process. In another embodiment, a unitary conduit (105) has a flow passage wherein the cross sectional shape of the flow passage changes from a first cross sectional shape to a second cross sectional shape. In another embodiment, the exterior contour (140) of the body (106) generally conforms to the interior contour (141) of the flow passage (108). In another embodiment, the flow passage (108) branches to a plurality of sub-passages (109).