Method and apparatus for support removal using directed atomized and semi-atomized fluid

1. A method of removing support material from and/or smoothing surfaces of an additively manufactured part, comprising:

providing a chamber, a support surface within the chamber, and one or more nozzles within the chamber;

placing an additively manufactured part (the “AM part”) on the support surface; and

spraying a fluid at the AM part, wherein the nozzles generate an atomized or semi-atomized spray of the fluid.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a tank configured to hold a volume of the fluid, and capturing the fluid in the tank after the fluid is sprayed.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a heater and heating the fluid to a desired temperature.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein spraying the AM part occurs while a temperature of the fluid rises toward the desired temperature.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein spraying the fluid occurs from: a first set of the nozzles that is configured to spray the fluid substantially downward toward the AM part; and a second set of the nozzles that is configured to spray the fluid substantially upward toward the AM part.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising translating one or both of the first and second sets of nozzles during spraying of the fluid.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising blowing air into or pulling air out of the chamber.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of nozzles wherein one or more of said nozzles sprays the fluid at a first velocity and one or more of said nozzles sprays the fluid at a second velocity.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein one or more of said nozzles sprays the fluid at a first flow rate and one or more of said nozzles sprays the fluid at a second flow rate.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of nozzles wherein one or more of said nozzles sprays the fluid at a first flow rate and one or more of said nozzles sprays the fluid at a second flow rate.

11. The method of claim 1 comprising a plurality of nozzles wherein one or more of said nozzles has a first size and one or more of said nozzles has a second size, and further wherein a pressure at which the fluid is supplied to the nozzles of the first size is different than a pressure at which the fluid is supplied to the nozzles of the second size.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting a recipe that contains operating parameters for one of a support material of the AM part, a build material of the AM part and/or an AM part geometry, wherein the AM part is sprayed in accordance with the selected recipe.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the recipe is selected from a plurality of pre-programmed recipes suitable for various support and build materials and part geometries.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

prior to spraying the AM part, inputting operating parameters for spraying the AM part; and

saving a recipe that contains the operating parameters for use for spraying another AM part.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

prior to spraying the AM part, inputting operating parameters for spraying the AM part, wherein the operating parameters include at least one of: an amount of fluid sprayed, a direction of fluid sprayed, a location of fluid sprayed, a pressure of the fluid, a degree of atomization of the fluid, a composition of the fluid, a temperature, and a pH.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

ventilating the chamber to exhaust vapors while spraying to prevent exposure in a vicinity around the chamber.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

continuing to ventilate after spraying for a time interval.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the chamber has a first region and a second region, and further wherein the fluid is sprayed with different flow rates, pressures and/or spray velocities in the first and second regions.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the fluid degrades or dissolves support material and/or a rough surface of the AM part.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the fluid degrades or dissolves the support material and/or the rough surface of the AM part without degrading, dissolving, or causing damage to a build material of the AM part.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

creating negative pressure in the chamber while spraying.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

collecting the fluid in a tank located below the support surface after the fluid has been sprayed at the AM part; and

recirculating the fluid collected in the tank back to the one or more nozzles to be sprayed at the AM part again in a closed-loop system.

23. A method of removing support material from and/or smoothing surfaces of an additively manufactured part, comprising:

providing a chamber, a support surface with at least an opening therethrough within the chamber, at least one nozzle located above the support surface, and at least another nozzle located below the support surface;

placing an additively manufactured part on the support surface;

spraying a fluid at the additively manufactured part from the nozzles from above and below; and

collecting and storing data about settings and operation during spraying.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

forming a database with the data collected and stored about the settings and operation during spraying.

25. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

adding the data collected and stored about the settings and operation during spraying to a remote database.

26. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

accessing a database that contains a plurality of recipes for optimizing the support material or smoothing processes; and

selecting a recipe from the database, wherein the additively manufactured part is sprayed in accordance with the selected recipe.

27. A method of removing support material from and/or smoothing surfaces of an additively manufactured part, comprising:

providing a chamber, a support surface with at least an opening therethrough within the chamber, at least one nozzle located above the support surface, and at least another nozzle located below the support surface;

placing an additively manufactured part on the support surface;

spraying a fluid at the additively manufactured part from the nozzles from above and below; and

providing an anti-foaming agent while spraying.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the anti-foaming agent is added to the fluid.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the anti-foaming agent is added to a tank located below the support surface.