Influence of part’s geometrical properties on shrinkage and laser heat affected zone size at selective laser sintering

Abstract

Purpose One of the main problems of selective laser sintering (SLS) manufacturing process is the dimensional accuracy of products. Main causes of dimensional deviations are material shrinkage and size of laser heat affected zone (LHAZ). This paper aims to present a new method of adapting SLS manufacturing shrinkage and LHAZ compensation parameters to the geometrical characteristics of processed parts to improve their accuracy. Design/methodology/approach The first part of this work presents a hypothesis asserting that the shrinkage and the LHAZ size depend on geometrical properties of products. A method that defines geometrical properties by numerical influence factors is described in the continuation. A multi-factorial experiment with adaptable test part is set up. Then, test builds are manufactured on an SLS machine and measured with a three-dimensional optical scanner. Afterwards, the results are analysed in relation to the presumed hypothesis. Findings The analysis of variance of multi-factorial experiment proves the hypothesis and the influence of the geometrical properties on the accuracy of the SLS manufacturing process. Afterwards, a part is manufactured with adapted values of compensation parameters and the archived accuracy is discussed. Research limitations/implications Presented research is limited on a single SLS material. Also, some numerical factors are directly linked to the build volume dimensions of the SLS machine that was used in the experiment. However, results can be generalised and some guidelines for shrinkage and LHAZ compensation method are presented. Also, some guidelines for future research are proposed. Practical implications Based on the presented results, it can be determined that using constant shrinkage and LHAZ values on an SLS machine will not yield the same results in terms of accuracy if the geometrical properties of parts change significantly. Social implications By correctly adapting compensation values, the overall achievable accuracy of the SLS process can be achieved, enabling a more reliable production of mass-customised end-user parts such as customised medical accessories and devices for example. Originality/value A similar method of numerically describing geometrical properties of part in regard to SLS and directly adapting shrinkage and LHAZ compensation values to them for every individual build has not yet been proposed.