Analysis of time dependent thermal properties for high rates in selective laser sintering

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 894-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Wudy ◽  
Maximilian Drexler ◽  
Lydia Lanzl ◽  
Dietmar Drummer

Purpose The thermal history during laser exposure determines part properties in selective laser sintering (SLS). The purpose of this study is to introduce a new measurement technique based on a CO2 laser unit combined with a high-speed DCS. A first comparison of the thermal history during laser exposure measured with Laser-high-speed-(HS)-differential scanning calorimetry-(DSC) and in SLS process is shown. Design/methodology/approach This Laser-HS-DSC allows an imitation of the SLS-process in a very small scale, as the sample is directly heated by a CO2 laser. For this study, the laser power and the impact time is varied for determining temperature and achieved heating rates. Consequently, the temperature levels measured by the Laser-HS-DSC are compared with measurements in SLS-process. Findings The influence of laser power and impact time on resulting maximum temperatures und heating rates during laser exposure are investigated. With increasing laser power and impact time the maximum temperature rises up to approximately 450°C without material degradation. The heating rate increases up to an impact time of 3 ms and stays almost equal for higher durations. Research limitations/implications The Laser-HS-DSC experiments are based on few particles limiting a complete comparison with SLS process. In SLS, one volume element is exposed several times. In this study the PA12 material was exposed only once. Originality/value For the first time, laser sintering experiments can be transferred to a laboratory scale to analyze the influence of laser exposure on resulting temperature field during laser exposure without superimposing effects.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 813-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjie Wu ◽  
Xiang Xu ◽  
Zhihao Zhao ◽  
Minjie Wang ◽  
Jie Zhang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of selective laser sintering (SLS) method on morphology and performance of polyamide 12. Design/methodology/approach Crystallization behavior is critical to the properties of semi-crystalline polymers. The crystallization condition of SLS process is much different from others. The morphology of polyamide 12 produced by SLS technology was investigated using scanning electron microscopy, polarized light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. Findings Too low fill laser power brought about bad fusion of powders, while too high energy input resulted in bad performance due to chain scission of macromolecules. There were three types of crystal in the raw powder material, denoted as overgrowth crystal, ring-banded spherulite and normal spherulite. Originality/value In this work, SLS samples with different sintering parameters, as well as compression molding sample for the purpose of comparison, were made to study the morphology and crystal structure of sintered PA12 in detail.


2010 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 578-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.Y. Wang ◽  
Q. Dong ◽  
X.X. Shen

Warpage is a crucial factor to accuracy of sintering part in selective laser sintering (SLS) process. In this paper, The influence of process parameters on warpage when sintering polystyrene(PS) materials in SLS are investigated. The laser power, scanning speed, hatch spacing, layer thickness as well as temperature of powder are considered as the main process parameters. The results showed that warpage increases with the increase of hatch space. Contary to it, warpage decreases with the increase of laser power. Warpage decreases with the increase of layer thickness between 0.16~0.18mm and changes little with increase of the thickness. Warpage increases along with the increase of scanning speed but decreases when the speed is over about 2000mm/s. When the temperature changes between 82°C-86°C, warpage decreases little with the increase of temperature. But further increase of temperature leads to warpage decreasing sharply when the temperature changes between 86°C-90°C.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 630-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Tiwari ◽  
Sarang Pande ◽  
Sanat Agrawal ◽  
Santosh M. Bobade

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate the selection of materials for the selective laser sintering (SLS) process, which is used for low-volume production in the engineering (e.g. light weight machines, architectural modelling, high performance application, manufacturing of fuel cell, etc.), medical and many others (e.g. art and hobbies, etc.) with a keen focus on meeting customer requirements. Design/methodology/approach – The work starts with understanding the optimal process parameters, an appropriate consolidation mechanism to control microstructure, and selection of appropriate materials satisfying the property requirement for specific application area that leads to optimization of materials. Findings – Fabricating the parts using optimal process parameters, appropriate consolidation mechanism and selecting the appropriate material considering the property requirement of applications can improve part characteristics, increase acceptability, sustainability, life cycle and reliability of the SLS-fabricated parts. Originality/value – The newly proposed material selection system based on properties requirement of applications has been proven, especially in cases where non-experts or student need to select SLS process materials according to the property requirement of applications. The selection of materials based on property requirement of application may be used by practitioners from not only the engineering field, medical field and many others like art and hobbies but also academics who wish to select materials of SLS process for different applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junchao Li ◽  
Yanan Yang ◽  
Ze Zhao ◽  
Ran Yan

Purpose The purpose of this study is to establish a finite element (FE) model with the random distribution of the Nylon12/hydroxyapatite (PA12/HA) composite material in selective laser sintering (SLS) process for considering the material anisotropy, which aims to obtain the law of temperature and stress changes in PA12/HA sintering. Design/methodology/approach By using python script in Abaqus, the FE model is established in which the two materials are randomly distributed and are assigned to their intrinsic temperature-dependent physical parameters. Molten pool sizes at various process parameters were evaluated in terms of numerical simulation and scanning electron microscope analysis, identifying a good agreement between them. Evaluation of temperature and stress distribution under the condition of different HA contents was also conducted. Findings It shows that the uneven distribution and quantity of HA powder play a vital role in stress concentration and temperature increase. Additionally, the influence of HA addition on the mechanical performance of SLS-fabricated parts shows that it is conducive to improve compressive strength when the HA ratio is less than 5% because an excess of HA powder tends to bring about a certain amount of microspores resulting in a decrease in part density. Originality/value The FE model of the PA12/HA composite material with parameterized random distribution in SLS can be applied in other similar additive manufacturing technologies. It provides a feasible guideline for the numerical analysis of properties of composite materials.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Vijaya Kumar ◽  
N. Suresh

PurposeThe Reinforced Concrete(RC) elements are known to perform well during exposure to elevated temperatures. Hence, RC elements are widely used to resist the extreme heat developing from accidental fires and other industrial processes. In both of the scenarios, the RC element is exposed to elevated temperatures. However, the primary differences between the fire and processed temperatures are the rate of temperature increase, mode of exposure and exposure durations. In order to determine the effect of two heating modalities, RC beams were exposed to processed temperatures with slow heating rates and fire with fast heating rates.Design/methodology/approachIn the present study, RC beam specimens were exposed to 200 °C, to 800 °C temperature at 200 °C intervals for 2 h' duration by adopting two heating modes; Fire and processed temperatures. An electrical furnace with low-temperature increment and a fire furnace with standard time-temperature increment is adapted to expose the RC elements to elevated temperatures.FindingsIt is observed from test results that, the reduction in load-carrying capacity, first crack load, and thermal crack widths of RC beams exposed to 200 °C, and 600 °C temperature at fire is significantly high from the RC beams exposed to the processed temperature having the same maximum temperature. As the exposure temperature increases to 800 °C, the performance of RC beams at all heating modes becomes approximately equal.Originality/valueIn this work, residual performance, and failure modes of RC beams exposed to elevated temperatures were achieved through two different heating modes are presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Boussad Abbes ◽  
Tahar Anedaf ◽  
Fazilay Abbes ◽  
Yuming Li

Purpose Direct energy deposition (DED) is an additive manufacturing process that allows to produce metal parts with complex shapes. DED process depends on several parameters, including laser power, deposition rate and powder feeding rate. It is important to control the manufacturing process to study the influence of the operating parameters on the final characteristics of these parts and to optimize them. Computational modeling helps engineers to address these challenges. This paper aims to establish a framework for the development, verification and application of meshless methods and surrogate models to the DED process. Design/methodology/approach Finite pointset method (FPM) is used to solve conservation equations involved in the DED process. A surrogate model is then established for the DED process using design of experiments with powder feeding rate, laser power and scanning speed as input parameters. The surrogate model is constructed using neutral networks (NN) approximations for the prediction of maximum temperature, clad angle and dilution. Findings The simulations of thin wall built of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy clearly demonstrated that FPM simulation is successful in predicting temperature distribution for different process conditions and compare favorably with experimental results from the literature. A methodology has been developed for obtaining a surrogate model for DED process. Originality/value This methodology shows how to achieve realistic simulations of DED process and how to construct a surrogate model for further use in optimization loop.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Tobias Heckner ◽  
Michael Seitz ◽  
Sven Robert Raisch ◽  
Gerrit Huelder ◽  
Peter Middendorf

In Selective Laser Sintering, fibres are strongly orientated during the powder recoating process. This effect leads to an additional increase of anisotropy in the final printed parts. This study investigates the influence of process parameter variation on the mechanical properties and the fibre orientation. A full factorial design of experiment was created to evaluate the processing parameters of recoating speed, layer thickness and laser power on the part’s modulus of elasticity. Based on the mechanical testing, computed tomography was applied to selected samples to investigate the process-induced fibre microstructure, and calculate the fibre orientation tensors. The results show increasing part stiffness in the deposition direction, with decreasing layer thickness and increasing laser power, while the recoating speed only shows little effect on the mechanical performance. This complies with computed tomography imaging results, which show an increase in fibre orientation with smaller layer thickness. With thinner layers, and hence smaller shear gaps, shear stresses induced by the roller during recoating increase significantly, leading to excessive fibre reorientation and alignment. The high level of fibre alignment implies an increase of strength and stiffness in the recoating direction. In addition, thinner layer thickness under constant laser energy density results in improved melting behaviour, and thus improved fibre consolidation, consequently further increasing the mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the parameters of recoating speed and laser power do not have a significant impact on fibre orientation within their applicable process windows.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomaz Brajlih ◽  
Matej Paulic ◽  
Tomaz Irgolic ◽  
Ziga Kadivnik ◽  
Joze Balic ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to present a comparison between selective laser sintering and injection moulding technology for the production of small batches of plastic products. Design/methodology/approach The comparison is based on analysing the time–cost efficiencies of each manufacturing process regarding the size of the series for the selected product sample. Both technologies are described and the times and costs of those individual processes needed to create a final product are assessed when using each of the manufacturing processes. Findings The study shows that the time-cost efficiency of the selected laser sintering technology increases according to the complexity of the product and decreases with increasing series size and product volume. Research limitations/implications The study and absolute values of the presented results are limited to a selected plastic product, but the series size-focused efficiency analysis could be expanded to general cases. Originality/value The presented analysis could be used as a general guideline for a decision-making process regarding the more efficient manufacturing method. In addition, the results show the viability of using selective laser sintering during the early stages of production when fast product availability is required, regardless of the series size. Also, some complementary effects of using both technologies in the serial production of the same part are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Patrick Deckers ◽  
Khuram Shahzad ◽  
Ludwig Cardon ◽  
Marleen Rombouts ◽  
Jozef Vleugels ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare different powder metallurgy (PM) processes to produce ceramic parts through additive manufacturing (AM). This creates the potential to rapidly shape ceramic parts with an almost unlimited shape freedom. In this paper, alumina (Al2O3) parts are produced, as Al2O3 is currently the most commonly used ceramic material for technical applications. Design/methodology/approach Variants of the following PM route, with indirect selective laser sintering (indirect SLS) as the AM shaping step, are explored to produce ceramic parts: powder synthesis, indirect SLS, binder removal and furnace sintering and alternative densification steps. Findings Freeform-shaped Al2O3 parts with densities up to approximately 90 per cent are obtained. Research limitations/implications The resulting Al2O3 parts contain inter-agglomerate pores. To produce higher-quality ceramic parts through indirect SLS, these pores should be avoided or eliminated. Originality/value The research is innovative in many ways. First, composite powders are produced using different powder production methods, such as temperature-induced phase separation and dispersion polymerization. Second, four different binder materials are investigated: polyamide (nylon-12), polystyrene, polypropylene and a carnauba wax – low-density polyethylene combination. Further, to produce ceramic parts with increased density, the following densification techniques are investigated as additional steps of the PM process: laser remelting, isostatic pressing and infiltration.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 459-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Kellens ◽  
Renaldi Renaldi ◽  
Wim Dewulf ◽  
Jean-pierre Kruth ◽  
Joost R. Duflou

Purpose – This paper aims to present parametric models to estimate the environmental footprint of the selective laser sintering (SLS)’ production phase, covering energy and resource consumption as well as process emissions. Additive manufacturing processes such as (SLS) are often considered to be more sustainable then conventional manufacturing methods. However, quantitative analyses of the environmental impact of these processes are still limited and mainly focus on energy consumption. Design/methodology/approach – The required Life Cycle Inventory data are collected using the CO2PE! – Methodology, including time, power, consumables and emission studies. Multiple linear regression analyses have been applied to investigate the interrelationships between product design features on the one hand and production time (energy and resource consumption) on the other hand. Findings – The proposed parametric process models provide accurate estimations of the environmental footprint of SLS processes based on two design features, build height and volume, and help to identify and quantify measures for significant impact reduction of both involved products and the supporting machine tools. Practical implications – The gained environmental insight can be used as input for ecodesign activities, as well as environmental comparison of alternative manufacturing process plans. Originality/value – This article aims to overcome the current lack of environmental impact models, covering energy and resource consumption as well as process emissions for SLS processes.


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