Infiltration as post-processing of laser sintered metal parts

Abstract

Laser sintering of metal parts is an additive production method applied in the field of rapid prototyping and rapid tooling. Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is a variant of the laser sintering processes. Metal powder is locally molten in this process and parts are built from layers. A fast laser sintering process, which is economically favourable, results in porous metal parts. For a technical application as e.g. the production of injection moulds for plastic parts, the surface has to be dense at a defined quality. A post-processing via infiltration is a possible solution for creating such surfaces. This paper describes the results of a study of the infiltration process: A model for describing the infiltration behaviour has been developed and validated through experiments.