Selective Laser
Sintering
"SLS"
(overview)
Selective Laser Sintering is an additive rapid
prototyping and short-run manufacturing technique
that uses a computer guided high power laser,
such as a carbon dioxide laser, to fuse or sinter
small particles of plastic, metal, or ceramic
powders into a prototype representing a desired
3-dimensional object. The laser selectively
fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections
generated from a 3-D digital description of
the part (usualy in .stl format) from a CAD
file or scan data) on the surface of a powder
bed. After a cross-section is selectively laser
sintered, the powder bed is lowered by one layer
thickness, a new layer of material is applied
on top, and the process is repeated until the
part is completed layer by layer.
Selective laser sintering is being used in
a wide array of industries and by many wellknown
Corperations and Universities.
Compared to other rapid manufacturing methods,
Selective Laser Sintering can produce parts
from a relatively wide range of commercially
available powder materials, including polymers
(nylon, also glass-filled or with other fillers,
and polystyrene), metals (steel, titanium, alloy
mixtures and composites) and green sand. The
physical process can be full melting, partial
melting, or liquid-phase sintering. And, depending
on the material, up to 100% density can be achieved
with material properties comparable to those
from conventional manufacturing methods. In
many cases large numbers of parts can be packed
within the powder bed, allowing very high productivity.
SLS is performed by machines called SLS systems;
the most widely known model of which is the
Sinterstation SLS system. SLS technology is
in wide use around the world due to its ability
to easily make very complex geometries directly
from digital CAD data. While it began as a way
to build prototype parts early in the design
cycle, it is increasingly being used in limited
run manufacturing to produce end-use parts.
A manufacturer of selective laser sintering
equipment is EOS GmbH of Munich, Germany. EOS
(The acronym stands for "Electro Optical
Systems") started as manufacturer of Stereolithography
systems, and later expanded their portfolio
to include laser sintering systems. The stereolithography
business was subsequently sold, and EOS is now
exclusively manufacturing laser sintering systems
in variants for sintering Polymers (EOSINT P),
Metal (EOSINT M) and Sand (EOSINT S, for foundry
applications).
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The term | Simple
