Design and experimental validation of a small-scale prototype selective laser sintering system

Abstract

Selective laser sintering (SLS) system is an additive manufacturing technique used in a variety of different applications, such as tool industries, medicine, aerospace, automotive, and electronics. A prototype SLS system was designed, built, and validated to improve SLS-manufactured part quality in terms of porosity and surface roughness. The prototype SLS system was designed for laboratory use only. Critical process parameters were identified to optimize the manufacturing process: forward step, side step, speed, platform temperature, and layer depth. The most essential defects associated with the SLS manufacturing process are porosity, shrinkage, surface roughness, and reduced hardness. The goals of this work were to design and build the prototype SLS system, then to quantify the effects of the selected process parameters on manufacturing defects and minimize manufacturing defects. Validation data from each SLS subsystem was compared to manufacturing simulation program parameters. Validation data included laser power, laser beam diameter, gantry motion in two axes, gantry vibration, and CAD/CAM interface program. Revisions of the prototype SLS system are proposed to maintain the resolution of 0.003 m and cost of less than $10,000.