Patent Publication Number: US-2021170486-A1

Title: Metal part, metal article, and preparation method of the metal part

Description:
FIELD 
     The subject matter herein relates to a metal part, a metal article including the metal part, and a preparation method of the metal part. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the field of manufacturing industrial products, it is usually necessary to form composite materials composed of metal and other materials. The composite materials are not mixed together in molecular or atomic level, metal and other materials have their own aggregates, and the two aggregates are combined together by a joint. Such composite materials have the characteristics of both metal and others. However, metals and other materials are different in physical properties, so they cannot be processed and combined by conventional methods such as fusion casting. It is desire to provide a composite technology which can make metal and other materials combined with strong adhesion. 
     SUMMARY 
     To overcome at least one of the above shortcomings, a metal part, a metal article including the metal part, and a preparation method of the metal part are needed. 
     The present disclosure provides a metal part includes a metal main body and a hole structure. The hole structure is located on the metal main body. The hole structure comprises a first hole and a second hole intercommunicated with the first hole. 
     The present disclosure also provides a metal article for an electronic device, including a metal part and a material part. The metal part includes a metal main body and a hole structure located on the metal main body. The hole structure includes a first hole and a second hole intercommunicated with the first hole. The material part is embedded in the hole structure. 
     The present disclosure also provides a preparation method of a metal part. The method includes obtaining a computerized three-dimensional mode of a metal part. At least one slice of the three-dimensional mode is set, a three-dimensional structure of the at least one slice assembles a three-dimensional structure of the three-dimensional mode. The three-dimensional structure of the at least one slice is prepared to form the metal part by using an additive manufacturing method. The metal part includes a metal main body and a hole structure. The hole structure includes a first hole and a second hole intercommunicated with the first hole. 
     The first hole and the second hole are communicated with each other, which facilitates expelling air when a material slurry such as a plastic melting liquid flows into the first hole and the second hole to combine with the metal part. After the material slurry stereotyped as a material part, the material part in the first hole and the second hole are intercommunicated to form a whole structure, so as to improve the bond strength between the metal part and the material part. The preparation method for preparing the metal part uses the additive manufacturing method to print the at least one slice with three-dimensional structures. Therefore, the structure, sizes, arrangements or other characteristics of the first hole and the second hole of the hole structure can be set according to actual requirements, to allow the first hole and the second hole communicated with each other. In addition, the preparation method of the metal part does not use chemical reagents, and the metal materials for preparing the metal part are unlimited, which can save cost and reduce environmental pollution. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Implementations of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of embodiment, with reference to the attached figures. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a metal part according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the metal part of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a metal part according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the metal part of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a metal part according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the metal part of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of a metal article according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram of a metal article according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9  is a flow chart of a metal part preparation method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  is a flow chart of a metal article preparation method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below in combination with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiment is only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor belong to the protection scope of the present application. 
     It should be noted that if a component is called “fixed” to another component, it can be directly or indirectly fixed to another component or indirectly fixed to another component by an intermediate component. If a component is considered to “connect” to another component, it can be directly connected to another component or indirectly connected to another component by an intermediate component. When a component is considered to be “arranged” on another component, it can be set directly to another component or indirectly arranged on another component by an intermediate component. The terms “vertical”, “horizontal”, “left”, “right” and similar expressions indicating directions or positions are based on the directions or positions shown in the attached drawings in order to facilitate the description of the embodiment and simplify the description of the invention, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, it cannot be understood as a limitation of the embodiment of the invention. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the present disclosure have the same meanings as those generally understood by those skilled in the technical field of the application. The terms used in the specification of the present application are only for the purpose of description, and are not intended to limit the present application. The term “or/and” used in the present disclosure includes any one of and all combinations of two or more related listed items. 
     Some embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below in combination with the attached drawings. Without conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other. 
     In some related techniques, a hole is provided on a surface of a metal part by a chemical etching method or electrochemical oxidation method. A plastic is located in the hole of the metal part by injection molding to improve the bonding strength between the plastic and the metal part. But either chemical etching method or electrochemical oxidation method cannot control the formation the hole, and most of the hole formed by those two methods are not intercommunicated and are micron holes. Those holes cannot improve the bonding strength higher, and residue air in the bottom of those holes cannot release during the injection molding process, which further limits the effect of the combination. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 ,  FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a metal part  10  according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and  FIG. 2  is a side view of the metal part  10 . 
     According to some embodiments, the present disclosure provides the metal part  10  for an electronic device. The metal part  10  includes a metal main body  11  and a hole structure  12  located on the metal main body  11 . The hole structure  12  includes a first hole  121  and a second hole  122  intercommunicated with the first hole  121 . 
     The material of the metal part  10  is selected from stainless steel, die steel, titanium alloy and aluminum alloy. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  have a same shape. The hole structure  12  is formed by the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  to be a three-dimensional ordered structure. That is, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are orderly provided in the three-dimensional space to form the hole structure  12 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the three-dimensional ordered structure is isotropic. It can be understood, the hole structure  12  may not be completely isotropic at an edge of the metal part  10  due to space limitation. For example, in some embodiments, the edge of the metal part  10  is not a complete hole because the metal part  10  is not enough to arrange an integral number of holes. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are arranged orderly in the three-dimensional space, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  arranged inside is hidden by the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  outside. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are formed by a plurality of columns surrounding each other. 
     The columns comprises N number of first columns  1211  (N≥3) and M number of second columns  1221  (M≥3). The N number of the first columns  1211  surround each other to form the first hole  121 . The M number of the second columns  1221  surround each other to form the second hole  122 . There is at a first column  1211  coincide with a second column  1221 . That is, the first hole  121  is adjacent to the second hole  122 , and one column of the first columns  121  is coincide with one column of the second columns  122 . 
     In some embodiments illustrated in  FIG. 2 , N equals to 4, and M equals to 4. 
     A shape of the first column  1211  and the second column  1221  can be at least one selected from cylinder, polyhedron, and irregular column. In some embodiments illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the shape of the first column  1211  and the second column  1221  are irregular column. Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a metal part  210  includes a hole structure  212  consisting of a first hole  2121  and a second hole  2122 . First columns  21211  surrounding the first hole  2121  and second columns  21221  surrounding the second hole  2122  are polyhedrons. Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a metal part  310  includes a hole structure  312  consisting of a first hole  3121  and a second hole  3122 . First columns  31211  surrounding the first hole  2121  and second columns  31221  surrounding the second hole  2122  are cylinders. 
     The first hole  121  are intercommunicated with the second hole  121 , which facilitates expelling air when a material slurry such as a plastic melting liquid flows into the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  to combine with the metal part  10 . After the material slurry stereotyped as a material part, the material part in the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are intercommunicated to form a whole structure, so as to improve the bond strength between the metal part  10  and the material part. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 and 7 , a metal article  100  is illustrated. The metal article  100  includes the metal part  10  and a material part  20 . The metal part  10  is illustrated in some embodiments of  FIG. 1 . The material part  20  is configured to be at least partly arranged inside the hole structure  12 . The material part  20  inside the metal part  10  together with the hole structure  12  to form a bonding zone  30 . At the bonding zone  30 , the material part  20  and the metal part  10  firmly combined. It should be noted that, in  FIG. 7 , the bonding zone  30  is shown for illustration only, and it includes parts of the material part  20  arranged inside the metal part  10  and the hole structure  12  of the metal part  10 . 
     The hole structure  12  is formed to be the three-dimensional ordered structure by the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  arranged orderly. That is, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are arranged orderly in the three-dimensional space to form the hole structure  12 . The three-dimensional ordered structure formed by the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  facilitates evenly distribution of the material part  20  in the hole structure  12 , thereby improving bond strength between the metal part  10  and the material part  20  at the bonding zone  30 . 
     The three-dimensional ordered structure is isotropic. It should be noted that, the metal part  10  is in a determined shape, the hole structure  12  may not be completely isotropic at an edge of the metal part  10  due to space limitation. For example, in some embodiments, the edge of the metal part  10  is not a complete hole because the metal part  10  is not enough to arrange an integral number of holes. The three-dimensional ordered structure is isotropic, that is, the hole structure  12  is isotropic. The material part  20  is embedded in the hole structure  12 , therefore the material part  20  at the bonding zone  30  is isotropic. Therefore, at the bonding zone  30 , the metal part  10  and the material body  20  form an interlocking structure to achieve high bonding strength. 
     The material part  20  can be made of at least one selected from metal, polymer, ceramic, and glass. 
     In some embodiments illustrated in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 7 , the first column  1211  and the second column  1221  of the metal part  10  are irregular columns. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3, 4 and 8 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a metal part  200  includes a metal part  210  and a material part  220 . The metal part  210  and the material part  220  define a bonding zone  230 . The first column  21211  and the second column  21221  of the metal part  210  are polyhedrons. It should be noted that, the bonding zone  230  is shown for illustration only, and it includes parts of the material part  210  arranged inside the metal part  10  and the hole structure  212  of the metal part  210 . 
     The hole structure  212  is formed to be the three-dimensional ordered structure by the first hole  2121  and the second hole  2122  arranged orderly. That is, the first hole  2121  and the second hole  2122  are arranged orderly in the three-dimensional space to form the hole structure  212 . The three-dimensional ordered structure formed by the first hole  2121  and the second hole  2122  facilitates evenly distribution of the material part  220  in the hole structure  212 , thereby improving bond strength between the metal part  200  and the material part  220  at the bonding zone  30 . 
     The three-dimensional ordered structure is isotropic. It should be noted that, the metal part  210  is in a determined shape, the hole structure  212  may not be completely isotropic at an edge of the metal part  210  due to space limitation. For example, in some embodiments, the edge of the metal part  210  is not a complete hole because the metal part  210  is not enough to arrange an integral number of holes. The three-dimensional ordered structure is isotropic, that is, the hole structure  212  is isotropic. The material part  220  embedded in the hole structure  12 , therefore the material part  220  at the bonding zone  30  is isotropic. Therefore, at the bonding zone  30 , the metal part  210  and the material body  220  form an interlocking structure to achieve high bonding strength. 
     It should be understood that, in other embodiments, the first column and the second column can be cylinders, such as the first column  31211  and the second column  31221  of the metal part  310  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , a preparation method for preparing a metal part is illustrated. The method includes following blocks. 
     Block  201 , obtaining a computerized dimensional mode of the metal part  10 . 
     Block  202 , setting at least one slice of the three-dimensional mode. A three-dimensional structure of slice assembles a three-dimensional structure of the three-dimensional mode. 
     Block  203 , preparing the three-dimensional structure of the slice to form the metal part by using an additive manufacturing method. The metal part  10  includes the metal main body  11  and the hole structure  12 . The hole structure  12  includes a first hole  121  and a second hole  122  intercommunicated with the first hole  121 . 
     The additive manufacturing method is one selected from electron beam melting, laser engineered shaping, selective laser melting (SLM) and selective laser sintering. 
     The material of the metal part  10  is selected from stainless steel, die steel, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, etc., as long as the metal part  10  can be prepared by the additive manufacturing method. 
     In at least one embodiment, the material for preparing the metal part  10  can be in a form of metal powder, and a particle size of the metal powder is 10 μm 50 μM. 
     In at least one embodiment, the additive manufacturing method is SLM. A power range of the laser is 160 w-220 w, a scanning speed range of the laser is 900 mm/s-1400 mm/s, and a scanning distance range of the laser is 0.04 mm-0.1 mm. 
     In some embodiments, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are in the same shape. The hole structure  12  is formed to be the three-dimensional ordered structure by the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  arranged orderly. That is, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are orderly provided in the three-dimensional space. 
     In some embodiments, the three-dimensional ordered structure is isotropic. 
     In some embodiments, the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  are formed by a plurality of columns surrounding each other. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, The columns comprises N number of first columns  1211  (N≥3) and M number of second columns  1221  (M≥3). The N number of the first columns  1211  surround each other to form the first hole  121 . The M number of the second columns  1221  surround each other to form the second hole  122 . There is at a first column  1211  coincide with a second column  1221 . That is, the first hole  121  is adjacent to the second hole  122 , and one column of the first columns  121  is coincide with one column of the second columns  122 . 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , N equals to 4, and M equals to 4. 
     A shape of the first columns  1211  and the second columns  1221  can be at least one selected from cylinder, polyhedron, and irregular column. 
     The preparation method for preparing the metal part uses the additive manufacturing method to print the at least one slice with three-dimensional structures. Therefore, the structure, sizes, arrangements or other characteristics of the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  of the hole structure  12  can be set according to actual requirements, to allow the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  intercommunicated. In addition, the preparation method of the metal part does not use chemical reagents, and the metal materials for preparing the metal part are unlimited, which can save cost and reduce environmental pollution. 
     Referring also to  FIG. 10 , a preparation method for preparing a metal article is illustrated. The metal article  100  includes the metal part  10  and the material part  20 . The preparation method for preparing the metal article includes following blocks. 
     Block  301 , obtaining a computerized three-dimensional mode of a metal part  10 ; 
     Block  302 , setting at least one slice of the three-dimensional mode. A three-dimensional structure of the slice assembles a three-dimensional structure of the three-dimensional mode. 
     Block  303 , preparing the three-dimensional structure of the slice to form the metal part by using an additive manufacturing method. The metal part includes the metal main body  11  and the hole structure  12 . The hole structure  12  includes the first hole  121  and the second hole  122  communicated with the first hole  121 . 
     Block  304 , forming the material part  20  in the hole structure  12  of the metal part  10 . 
     It should be noted that, the material part  20  can be made of at least one of metal, polymer, ceramic, and glass. 
     Specifically, in at least one embodiment, the material part  20  is made of plastics. 
     Preparing the metal part further includes: 
     Putting the metal part  10  into a mold; 
     Heating the mold; and 
     Injecting molten plastics into the mold. 
     The molten plastics goes into the first hole  121  and the second hole  122 . After the mold is cooled, the plastics is combined with the metal part  10  to form the metal part. 
     The molten plastic enters the first hole  121  and the second hole  122 , and is combined with the metal part  10  after cooling. 
     The shaping method of the material part  20  can be determined according to the material and a state of the material part  20 . 
     For example, if the material part  20  is made of metal and in a form of powder, it can by shaped by laser melting. 
     For example, if the material of the material part  20  is polymer: if the material part  20  is in a liquid state, it can by shaped by evaporation solvent; if the material part  20  is in a molten state, it can by shaped by injection molding; if the material part  20  is in a molten state, it can by shaped by injection molding; if the material part  20  is in a gas state, it can by shaped by Gas in-situ polymerization. 
     For example, if the material body  20  is made of ceramic and in a form of powder, it can be shaped by adding adhesive or powder sintering. 
     For example, if the material body  20  is made of glass: when it is in the form of powder, it can be shaped by heating and then cooling; when the shape is molten, it can be treated by cooling. 
     The above embodiments are only parts of the present disclosure, and the material and shaping method of the material part  20  are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. 
     It should be noted that, the term metal part is used to distinguish from the term metal part for better understanding only. 
     It can be understood that ordinary person skilled in the art can make various other corresponding changes and deformations according to the technical concept of the present disclosure, and all such changes and deformations shall belong to the protection scope of the present application.