Patent ID: 6899777

Claim:
A method of making a composite three-dimensional object comprising: (a) forming a continuous filament comprising a longitudinally extending continuous fiber and a material-laden composition comprising a thermoplastic polymer and at least about 40 volume % of a ceramic or metallic particulate, wherein the filament inclides a green matrix material from the material-laden composition, and wherein the green matrix material completely surrounds the fiber; (b) passing the filament to a movable assembly for guiding placement of the filament onto an associated working surface; (c) depositing the filament from the movable assembly without application of a compression force onto the working surface to form a lower filament layer having a predetermined filament orientation; (d) depositing the filament from the movable assembly without application of a compression force onto the working surface to form an upper filament layer on top of the lower filament layer; (e) heating the filament after it is deposited in the upper filament layer, a portion of the upper filament layer adjacent the deposited filament and a portion of the filament layer below and proximate to the deposited filament to a predetermined temperature effective for softening the green matrix material to provide a heated portion of deposited filament and filament layers; (f) compressing the heated portion with a force effective for consolidating and bonding the green matrix material of the deposited filament and filament layers; (g) solidifying the heated portion; (h) repeating steps (d)-(g) one or more times as desired to provide a composite object comprising two or more filament layers and having a predetermined geometry.