Patent ID: 9578695
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: B22F,B23K,B28B,B29C,B33Y,H05B,Y02P

Claim:
1. An additive fabrication method for sequentially incrementing a workpiece to form a desired object, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing a quantity of source material including metallic or ceramic material, at least at a location where a structural element is to be added to the workpiece; b. processing the quantity of source material by application of localized microwave radiation that induces either a thermal-runaway instability and/or inner plasma breakdown in between the source material particles, which expedites the melting process, so as to transform, consequently, the source material into an integrated portion of the workpiece, thereby generating an incremented workpiece, and c. repeating steps (a) and (b) to sequentially increment the workpiece to form the desired object, wherein said localized microwave radiation is applied through a near-field microwave applicator configured to apply the microwave radiation to transform the source material within an included volume receiving the localized microwave radiation, said included volume having at least one dimension smaller than a wavelength of the microwave radiation.