General Electric Company
Porous Tools and Methods of Making the Same

Abstract:

A porous tool includes a mold body and an additively-manufactured film attached to a surface of the mold body. The film includes a porous layer and a nonporous support layer. The porous layer may include a surface having an array of surface pore openings, a network of interconnected passages in fluid communication with the surface pore openings, and one or more lateral edges that have an array of edge pore openings in fluid communication with the interconnected passages. Methods of forming a porous tool include depositing additive material on a build surface using a directed energy deposition system to form a film while simultaneously subtracting selected portions of the additive material from the film using laser ablation. Methods of forming a molded component include conforming a moldable material to a shape using a porous tool that includes a mold body and an additively-manufactured film, and evacuating outgas from the moldable material through a porous layer of the film.