Layer manufacturing method and apparatus using full-area curing

摘要

A method and related apparatus for fabricating a three-dimensional object in accordance with a computer-aided design of the object in a layer-by-layer but not point-by-point fashion. The method includes the following steps: (a) providing a work surface; (b) feeding a first layer of a photo-curable material mixture to this work surface, the mixture including a primary body-building powder material and a photo-curable adhesive; (c) directing a programmable planar light source to predetermined areas of the first layer to at least partially cure the adhesive and bond the powder particles together in these areas for the purpose of forming the first cross-section of this object; (d) feeding a second layer of the material mixture onto the first layer and directing a programmable planar light source to predetermined areas of the second layer to at least partially cure the adhesive and bond the powder particles together in these areas for forming the second cross-section of the object; (e) repeating the feeding and directing steps to build successive layers of the material mixture in a layer-wise fashion in accordance with the design for forming multiple layers of the object; and (f) removing un-bonded powder particles and un-cured adhesive to reveal the 3-D object.