Shaped Abrasive Particle and Method of Forming Same | Publication Date: 3.30.15

Summary:

Various processes of forming shaped abrasive particles including by additive manufacturing processes. Additive manufacturing processes can include processes wherein a body of the shaped abrasive particle is formed by compiling a plurality of portions together in a particular orientation with respect to each other such that, when the plurality is compiled, each of the discrete portions can define at least a portion of the shaped abrasive particle. In particular instances, the additive manufacturing process can be a template-free process, wherein the material being manipulated to form discrete portions, and ultimately the body itself, need not be placed within a template (e.g., a mold). Rather, the material being manipulated can be deposited in discrete portions, wherein each of the discrete portions has a controlled dimension such that when the plurality is compiled, the body also has a controlled dimension. Therefore, unlike typical molding operations, additive manufacturing processes of the embodiments herein may not necessarily need to incorporate a template that is configured to contain the material being manipulated to form the body. In particular instances, an additive manufacturing process that is used to form a shaped abrasive particle can be a prototype printing process. In more particular instances, the process of forming the shaped abrasive particle can include a prototype printing of a body of the shaped abrasive particle, where the shaped abrasive particle includes a shaped abrasive particle or a precursor shaped abrasive particle. In other instances, the additive manufacturing process may include or be considered a laminated object manufacturing process. In the laminated object manufacturing process, individual layers may be formed discretely and joined together to form the body of the shaped abrasive particle. In accordance with an embodiment, the method of forming a shaped abrasive particle having a body formed by an additive manufacturing process can include deposition of a first print material as a first portion of the body at a first time, and deposition of a second print material as a second portion of the body distinct from the first portion at a second time.

Keywords:

Alumina, Alpha-Alumina, 3D, three-dimensional, 3-dimensional, printing, print, layer additive method, light photopolymerization, laser powder forming, powder bed fusion, selective laser sintering, micro-laser sintering, material extrusion robocasting, material jetting, sheet lamination, shaped abrasive particle (SAP), polyhedron, pyramid, ellipsoid, sphere, prism, cylinder, cone, tetrahedron, cube, cuboid, rhomohedron, truncated pyramid, truncated ellipsoid, truncated sphere, truncated cone, pentahedron, hexahedron, heptahedron, aoctahedron, nonahedron, decahedron, Greek alphabet character, Latin alphabet character, Russian alphabet character, volcano shape, monostatic.