Methods, materials and structures for manufacturing a magnetically actuated exciter device using 3d printing

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a shaker device using 3D-printing (i.e., additive manufacturing). An electromagnet is formed by producing a bobbin body and winding an electrical conductor on the bobbin body to form an electromagnet coil. A cylindrical body is 3D-printed and the bobbin body with the electromagnet coil is coupled within an interior of the cylindrical body. A piston assembly is then positioned within the bobbin assembly. The shaker device is operated by controllably applying a magnetic field through the electromagnet coil that impinges a permanent magnet of the piston assembly to cause movement of the cylindrical body relative to the piston. By using these 3D printing techniques, the composition of materials can be varied within a single component part, fine structural details can be included in the components, and components can be 3D printed directly on each other to eliminate tolerance issues relating to small variations in component size.