| 摘要 |
The invention relates to a method of forming an article in a layer wise rapid prototype manufacturing process from a 3 dimensional computer aided design (3d cad) file which represents the article. The method comprises dividing the file into sub files in dependence of the size or other characteristics of features of the article to be created; applying selected independence on a characteristic feature to each sub file and manufacturing the article in accordance with the sub files. The article is preferably formed from a metal or polymer power which is sintered, melted or otherwise fused together to form a solid object by the application of a point heat source such as a laser or electron beam. Splitting the files enables different processing strategies to be applied to each file. The files may be overlapped to form features simultaneously such as plate 12 and stud 13, and thereby achieve a satisfactory joining of the two parts. The process characteristic may be a laser beam offset. |
