{
  "patent_number": "US 11311959",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Building Metal Parts Without Melting: Solid-State 3D Printing System",
  "original_title": "Solid-state additive manufacturing system and material compositions and structures",
  "summary": "This patent describes a system for building or repairing metal parts by frictionally heating and stirring materials together without melting them, precisely controlling the material's internal structure as it's made.",
  "what_it_does": "This system builds 3D structures, coats surfaces, or repairs objects by feeding a filler material, like metal powder or wire, through a spinning tool onto a workpiece. Unlike traditional 3D printing that melts material, this system uses friction and mechanical stirring from the tool's rotation and movement to heat and join the materials in a solid state (Claim 1). A control unit, monitoring unit, and sensors work together, using temperature feedback to adjust how the material is deposited layer by layer (Claim 1). This process creates a “tailored microstructure” where the internal grains of the material are made at least five times smaller than in the original filler or workpiece, making the final part stronger (Claim 1). For example, it could add a new, stronger metal layer to a worn engine part without damaging the original structure with high heat.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover additive manufacturing processes that rely on melting and then solidifying the material, such as laser powder bed fusion or arc welding.",
    "Does not cover systems that do not actively refine the microstructure of the deposited material to achieve at least a five-fold reduction in grain size (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover systems that lack temperature feedback controls to adjust processing parameters during layer-by-layer deposition (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover methods of joining materials without the use of a rotating and/or translating tool that provides friction, heating, or mechanical stirring (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover systems that only dispense filler material without also providing coordinated movement of the spindle, tool, or workpiece (Claim 1)."
  ],
  "filed": "2018-10-31",
  "granted": "2022-04-26",
  "expires": "2038-10-31",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Meld Manufacturing",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/meld-manufacturing",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Wayne Hubbard",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/wayne-hubbard"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anita T. Broach",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/anita-t-broach"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chase Cox",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/chase-cox"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nanci Hardwick",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/nanci-hardwick"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 18,
  "tags": [
    "manufacturing",
    "materials",
    "aerospace",
    "automotive",
    "mechanical"
  ],
  "abstract": "A solid-state additive manufacturing additive manufacturing system applicable to building up 3D structures, coating and functionalizing surfaces, joining structures, adding customized features to objects, compounding proprietary compositions and repairing various structures is disclosed. The solid-state additive manufacturing system enables deposition of different fillers, viz. metals, metal alloys, MMCs, polymers, plastics, composites, hybrids and gradient compositions, as well as controls the resulting deposit structures, e.g. specific nano-/micro-, gradient- and porous-material structures. The system accommodates various feeding-, spindle- and tool-designs for depositing different forms of filler materials, viz. rods, wires, granules, powders, powder-filled-tubes, scrap pieces or their combination, and a working platform with multiple access points. One or multiple motors, driving and monitoring units control the movement of the workpiece, spindle and tool and move the filler through the feeding system, which passageway is in communication with the passageways of the spindle and the tool.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11311959/solid-state-additive-manufacturing-system-and-material-compositions-and-structur",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11311959/solid-state-additive-manufacturing-system-and-material-compositions-and-structur/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11311959",
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}