SLS in Additive Manufacturing is used to convert 3D CAD designs into physical parts, in a matter of hours.
What is the Selective Laser Sintering definition? SLS stands for Selective Laser Sintering, a 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique. SLS uses a process calledsintering, where powdered material is heated to near-melting temperatures, causing particles to bond together to form a solid.
SLS可以使用多种材料 - 最常见的是尼龙，但有时也是塑料和金属。
由于它能够生产以前“不可能”的零件（继续阅读以获取更多信息）和材料的高回收率，因此自1990年代初期其商业化以来，SLS在工业环境中一直很受欢迎。
SLS是initially developed in the 1980s by Carl Deckard and Joe Beaman under the sponsorship of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.
While SLS technology is far from new, it’s still used primarily for industrial applications. The precise laser used in the SLS process enables highly accurate manufacturing, even of complex parts. For this reason, SLS is widely used forrapid prototyping以及低量定制零件的生产。
On the other hand, the use of powerful lasers and powdered material made it impractical for most small scale or home use, particularly as SLS printers are substantially more expensive than other popular technologies such as融合沉积建模(FDM) 3D printers.
More recently, developments in powder bed fusion technologies have revived interest in SLS, which now falls behind FDM and Stereolithography (SLA) in popularity.
EveryAdditive Manufacturing(AM) technique has its limitations, and SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) is no exception. In particular, SLS is not suitable for printing sharp edges or thin walls, and designs that incorporate these features will need to be altered during pre-processing. For example:
要记住的其他点：
Finally, before a 3D model is ready to print, it must be ‘sliced’ into 2D layers (also known as cross sections) which the SLS printer will use to guide its laser across each layer of powdered material. While some free ‘slicers’ are available to completedata preparationfor SLS, their reliability may be questionable, and professional designers are advised to work with a recognized software package for their pre-processing needs.
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The Selective Laser Sintering process resembles that of other powder bed fusion technologies in the following ways:
During the printing process, SLS parts are encompassed by unsintered powder. This extra powder supports the part during printing, removing the need for support structures.
SLS的第一步后期处理is part recovery. Newly SLS printed parts are encased in a porous cocoon partly sintered powder, which must be broken open to remove the part. While this process would be messy in a home environment, SLS is mainly used in industrial settings, where specially designed cleaning chambers are used that incorporate airtight enclosures with an inlet for compressed air.
Once cleaned, SLS-printed parts are examined and tested to ensure they meet the original specifications. Since SLS parts are prone to shrinkage and warping, this process must ensure each part is fit for purpose.
最后，大多数SLS零件都被染色和/或涂层，以使其为真实世界的使用做准备。染料和涂料范围从纯化妆品到高度功能，包括：
Recovering left-over material is an essential part of the SLS manufacturing process.
自从粉状材料supports SLS parts during printing, far more powder is used than is needed for the actual part. However, because all powder within the build chamber is pre-heated to aid the sintering process, ‘used’ powder is less effective than unused powder for future SLS printing. Due to this,SLS打印专家建议最多使用50％的再生粉末for any SLS printing project.
从根本上讲，有两种不同类型的SLS系统：工业和桌面。
工业SLS系统已经存在了十年s, and have been used by leading players in a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, and tooling. Industrial SLS systems use one or more high-powered CO2lasers.
由于其大小和热量要求，工业SLS系统需要惰性环境来确保粉末不会氧化。结果，这些系统还需要专门的设备来管理空气摄入和去除。他们还需要工业电源。
Desktop SLS systems use a similar process to industrial systems but are packaged into a machine that can easily fit into a small business or hobbyist environment. These systems use lower-powered diode or fiber lasers rather than CO2激光器，部分负责其成本降低。
由于其尺寸较小，桌面系统还需要更少的烧结过程加热，从而消除了对空气管理系统的需求，并使它们能够以标准的交流电源运行。
术语SLS通常描述基于塑料的烧结，尽管它也可以用作包括塑料，金属，玻璃，陶瓷和复合材料的材料烧结的全术语。尽管烧结过程所需的温度各不相同，但该过程在所有材料中保持相似。
When SLS is applied to metals, the term direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is typically used. The process is exactly the same as described earlier in this article, but the sintering process requires significantly more heat than plastic-based sintering.
像任何制造过程一样，SLS既有优势又具有缺点。
SLS advantages include:
SLS disadvantages include:
The most popular use of SLS is in rapid prototyping, where its speed and self-supporting nature make it ideal. SLS makes it easy for designers to create and test a wide range of prototypes without being constrained by the need to include structural supports or use more traditional manufacturing techniques such as injection molding.
Due to the advantages it confers, SLS has been heavily used in the aerospace, automotive, and medical industries.
在航空航天和汽车制造商使用mainly metal and composite powders to achieve high levels of durability, medical manufacturers usually prefer thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) — a flexible and highly durable plastic with excellent mechanical properties, durability, and resistance to oils and chemicals.
SLS通常在价格不是主要考虑的情况下使用，至少在购买资本设备方面。SLS系统可能非常昂贵，这是该过程主要用于工业环境的主要原因。
However, capital expense aside, manufacturers that produce lots of low-volume parts — e.g. prototypes — can actually save on costs with SLS. SLS is widely used to produce low-volume and bespoke parts, largely because it makes it easy to produce these without the considerable expense of工具.
常见用例包括：
Right now, SLS is primarily limited to industrial uses — primarily due to the high cost of SLS 3D printers, but also due to the use of powerful laser and powdered materials. For now, if you are a hobbyist or home creator, other techniques like FDM and SLA are more affordable options. In industrial settings, however, SLS systems can be extremely valuable.
As with all AM techniques, however, SLS relies on the manufacturer’s ability to produce highly accurate and optimized 3D models. And, given the limitations of SLS — particularly its inability to print parts with thin walls or sharp edges — certain software functions are essential for creating and optimizing those models.
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