About SLS 3D printing

What is SLS 3D printing ?

Many industrial 3D printing processes exist today (FDM, SLA, SLM and SLS), and one of them is SLS 3D printing (selective laser sintering).

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing process that is a powder bed fusion technology. In SLS 3D printing, a laser selectively fuses the particles of a polymer powder together layer by layer.

How does SLS work ?

1.      The powder, the bin and the platform are first heated.

2.     A thin layer of powder is spread over the platform.

3.     The laser scans the contour of the layer and fuses together the particles of the polymer powder.

4.     When a layer is complete, the build platform moves down then the process repeats until the part is completely printed.

SLS 3D printing is used for both prototyping and small production batches because it offers a very high accuracy, high functional, high aesthetic and high productivity. Unlike FDM or SLA, it produces parts with good and consistent mechanical properties. This means it can be used to produce parts for low volume production quantity.

Advantages:

1.      SLS parts have good and mechanical properties, making them ideal for functional parts testing, prototypes and low volume production.

2.     SLS can be used to manufacture complex shapes and geometries

3.     SLS requires no support, so designs with complex geometries can be easily produced.

Disadvantages:

1.      SLS parts have a grainy surface finish and internal porosity that require surface treatment processing.

2.     Large flat surfaces and small holes cannot be printed accurately with SLS.