February 10, 2025
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February 10, 2025
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How Selective Laser Sintering Works? (2023)

Key Takeaways
SLS 3D printer
Above: An Example of SLS 3D Printer – The Formlabs Fuse 1 SLS 3D Printer Image Credit Formlabs

This article focuses on one of the most widely used 3D printing technologies in the world i.e., Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D Printing technology.

Additive Manufacturing, or 3D Printing as it is most popularly known, is a rapidly evolving technology. Experts believe that it has ushered the 4th Industrial revolution and will prove to be one of the most revolutionary technology ever developed.

3D Printing is not a single process but a set of technologies which operate on similar principles of additive manufacturing. Multiple technologies have emerged over the years such as FDM/FFF, DLP, SLS,Binder Jetting, Rotational 3D printing, Cold Spray AM, and many more. All these 3D printing technologies offer different solutions for different applications and are currently at various levels of technological developments and acceptance.

In this article, we will focus on the working of the Selective Laser Sintering technology. For more information on the technology, read a follow-up article – all about SLS Technology.

The Components of SLS 3D Printer

working of Selective Laser Sintering
Above: A Diagrammatic representation of the working of Selective Laser Sintering Technology
  • Laser: This is a powerful laser which is used to melt the particles to fuse them together
  • Scanning System: This system perfectly directs the laser to the desired location and then traces the geometry for each layer.
  • Build Chamber: This chamber houses the powdered material
  • Powder Delivery System: The powder delivery system is responsible for carrying and delivering the powder for each layer of printing.
  • Powdered Material: This is the actual material in its powdered form. Most common material is Nylon PA12
  • Roller or Leveller: This transfers new layer of material from the powder delivery system and spreads it evenly on top of the previously printed layer in the build chamber for next printing cycle.

The Process

The process starts with the build chamber being heated just below the melting temperature of the powdered material. On reaching the preset temperature, the roller brings the first layer of material and spreads it in the build chamber. Once the layer is spread the laser springs into action. The powerful CO2 laser is activated and falls on the scanning system. The scanning system directs the laser to the accurate coordinates and traces the desired geometry on the first layer of the material. As the laser falls on the fine particles, they are heated above its melting temperature and adjacent particles fuse together to form a bond. This process is also called as Powder Bed Fusion or Sintering. This completes printing of the first layer.

On completion of the first layer, the laser pauses and the build chamber drops down by approximately 50 to 100 μm.  The default layer height used in SLS printing 100 μm. In an SLS machine, almost all of the parameters are preset by the machine manufacturer and there is a limitation on the manual modifications by the machine operator.

Once the bed drops, the roller brings a new layer of powder to the build chamber again and spreads it on top of the previous layer. The laser again starts and traces the next layer of the material in the build chamber. This time the adjacent particles are fused together along with the fusion of current and previous layer forming two completely bonded layers. This process continues till the complete object gets printed. It must be noted that SLS printing does not need support structures as the unsintered powder acts as the support structure for the actual object.

It must be noted that the printing always starts from the bottom layer and is printed to the top.

The build chamber is allowed to cool before the part is removed. This can take a significant amount of time. Once the part is removed it is cleaned by blasting it with compressed air. Parts made in SLS machines are gritty but are layer lines are not as prominent as in the case of FDM. It can be further post-processed by bead blasting, dyeing, painting, powder coating, tumbling, stove enameling, metal coating, lacquering, etc.

More about Selective Laser Sintering

Since Selective Laser Sintering uses materials in a powdered form and the printing occurs inside a build chamber, the build chamber is always filled with the material. This proves to be a double-edged sword.

Since the chamber has to be filled with powder, the material is heated every time an object is printed. This affects the material properties and after a specific number of times, the material loses its standard properties and it cannot be reused again. And positively, since the powder engulfs the object, it can be used to build several parts simultaneously in a single run. This helps in optimum use of the machine and material.

Selective Laser Sintering is most suited for a single piece or small quantity production of high-quality parts. Therefore, Aerospace industry is the biggest beneficiary of this technology.


About Manufactur3D Magazine: Manufactur3D is an online magazine on 3D printing. which publishes the latest 3D printing news, insights and analysis from all around the world. Visit our 3D Printing Education page to read more such informative articles. To stay up-to-date about the latest happenings in the 3D printing world, like us on Facebook or follow us on LinkedIn.

Manufactur3D Team
Manufactur3D Team reports on the latest news, insights and analysis from the Indian and the Global 3D Printing Industry. They share updates from Industry leading companies to Startups and covers their latest developments.
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