Benchmark testing for sls machines11/7/2023 Kruth et al.īENCHMARKING OF DIFFERENT SLS/SLM PROCESSES AS RAPID MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES Polymers & Moulds Innovations (PMI), Gent, Belgium, April 20-23, 2005 Benchmarking of different SLS/SLM processes as rapid manufacturing techniques J.-P. Repeatability and economical aspects like speed and costs are discussed as important factors for manufacturing. Dimensional analyses are performed to check process accuracy and surface quality. The produced benchmarks are tested for their mechanical properties such as density, hardness, strength and stiffness. A benchmark model is developed facilitating to test manufacturing conditions and is fabricated by these SLS/SLM processes which differ in equipment, powder material, binding mechanism and process parameters. Materials and methods This study examines SLS/SLM as direct metal manufacturing techniques by benchmarking of five different SLS/SLM processes. The presented work investigates if SLS/SLM processes, according to the state of the art, fulfil these manufacturing requirements and tries to show opportunities of new applications of direct metal manufacturing by means of SLS/SLM. Finally, the breakthrough of SLS/SLM processes as Rapid Manufacturing techniques will depend on reliability, performance and economical aspects like production time and cost. Secondly, process accuracy, surface roughness and the possibility to fabricate geometrical features like overhanging surfaces and internal structures become very important for manufacturing. The process must guarantee consistency over the entire product life cycle. Firstly, manufacturing applications increase the requirements on material and mechanical properties. To turn SLS/SLM processes into production techniques for real components, some conditions have to be fulfilled. Many applications could take advantage of this evolution by using SLS/SLM not only for visual concept models and onetime functional prototypes, but also for tooling moulds, tooling inserts and end-use functional parts with long-term consistency. Due to technical improvements, better process control and the possibility to process all kind of metals, a shift to firstly Rapid Tooling (RT) and secondly Rapid Manufacturing (RM) came up in recent years. Over the last decade SLS/SLM processes have gained a wide acceptance as Rapid Prototyping (RP) techniques. In contrast to material removal techniques, complex shapes can be fabricated without the need for lengthy tool path calculations and remaining unprocessed powder can be reused. The competitive advantages of SLS/SLM are geometrical freedom, mass customization and material flexibility. Different binding mechanisms can be responsible for the consolidation of the powder: Solid State Sintering, Liquid Phase Sintering, Partial Melting or Full Melting. Introduction Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM) are layer-wise material addition techniques that allow generating complex 3D parts by selectively consolidating successive layers of powder material on top of each other, using thermal energy supplied by a focused and computer controlled laser beam. This paper presents the state of the art in SLS/SLM and aims at understanding the limitations of different SLS/SLM processes to form a picture of the potential manufacturing applications of these processes. Finally, speed and repeatability are discussed as important factors for manufacturing. Besides, the benchmarks are tested for their mechanical properties such as density, hardness, strength and stiffness. To find out process accuracy, a dimensional analysis is performed and the surface roughness is measured. This benchmark is manufactured by five SLS/SLM machines which differ in process mechanism, powder material and optimal process parameters. A benchmark model is developed facilitating to test these conditions and to check the process limitations. This study examines different SLS/SLM processes with regard to conditions that become very important for manufacturing, such as accuracy, material, mechanical properties, speed and reliability. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM) techniques are no longer exclusively used for prototyping and the possibility to process all kind of metals yields opportunities to manufacture real functional parts, e.g. Mercelis Division PMA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Abstract Recently, a shift of Rapid Prototyping (RP) to Rapid Manufacturing (RM) has come up because of technical improvements of Layer Manufacturing processes. 1/7 BENCHMARKING OF DIFFERENT SLS/SLM PROCESSES AS RAPID MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES J.-P.
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