Powder based AM systems

[Link]
GCT, CBE
 UNIT- IV POWDER BASED ADDITIVE
MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS
• Selective Laser Sintering (SLS): Principle, process,
indirect and direct SLS- powder structures, materials,
post processing, surface deviation and accuracy,
Applications. Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS):
Processes, materials, products, advantages,
limitations and applications – case Studies, Selective
Laser Melting and Electron Beam Melting.
 Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
• Developed by Carl Deckard for his master’s thesis at the University
of Texas.
• Selective laser sintering was patented in 1989.
• DTM of Austin, TX

• Sintering is a method for making objects from powder, by heating

the material in a sintering furnace below its melting point (solid
state sintering) until its particles adhere to each other.
• Sintering is traditionally used for manufacturing ceramic objects,
and has also found uses in such fields as powder metallurgy.

8-Nov-22 3
 Principle
(1) Parts are built by sintering when a CO2 laser beam hits a thin layer
of powdered material. The interaction of the laser beam with the
powder raises the temperature to the point of melting, resulting in
particle bonding, fusing the particles to themselves and the
previous layer to form a solid.

(2) The building of the part is done layer by layer. Each layer of the
building process contains the cross-sections of one or many parts.
The next layer is then built directly on top of the sintered layer after
an additional layer of powder is deposited.
 SLS apparatus

8-Nov-22 5
 SLS apparatus

8-Nov-22 6
 Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) - Process
• Basic elements are powder-feed and part-build chambers.
• There are two powder-feed cylinders, one on each side of the part-
build chamber.
• At the beginning of each cycle of layer formation, the powder-feed
piston moves up certain distance to deliver a fixed quantity of
powder onto the table.
• The roller mechanism then sweeps across the table to spread the
powder evenly over the table surface.
• SLS machines use a CO2 laser beam that moves across the powder
layer under computer control in accordance with the information
contained in the .STL file for that particular layer. The interaction of
the laser beam with the powder elevates the temperature to the
point of melting, fusing the powder particles to form a solid mass.

8-Nov-22 8
 Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) - Process

• The intensity of the laser beam is modulated to melt the powder

only in areas defined by the part’s geometry. Surrounding
powder remain a loose compact and serve as supports.
• After allowing sufficient time for the sintered layer to cool down
without causing significant internal stresses, the part-cylinder
moves down one layer thickness to be ready for the next layer-
building cycle.
• After the SLS process, the part is removed from the build
chamber and the loose powder simply falls away.
• SLS parts may then require some post-processing or secondary
finishing, such as sanding, painting, etc depending upon the
application of the prototype built.

8-Nov-22 9
 Indirect and Direct SLS
• There are two basic types of SLS: indirect and direct.
• Indirect SLS was developed by University of Texas. The first
commercial machine was offered in 1995 by DTM Corporation.
• In this technique, metal powders are mixed with a small amount of
polymer.
• Alternatively, metallic and ceramic powders are coated with
polymer.
• Particle binding occurs essentially through polymer-polymer bonds.
• For instance, during SLS of a steel powder, the polymer
softens/melts and forms necks between adjacent particles. The
resulting part is called the 'green part'.
• Owing to melting of polymer, the green part is usually quite porous.
Hence, it cannot be used without some post-processing.
 Powder Structures
• four possible two-phase structures

• Primary metallic phase is coated with a metal or polymer binder with

lower melting point so as to facilitate binding (a). This approach is not
only expensive but also brings problems arising for non-uniform
coating thickness.
• Mixing the two components mechanically (b). This approach yields
high packing density. Even higher densities can be obtained by
vibrating the bed. However, the components can get segregated while
the wiper spreads it over the table.
• The problem of segregation does not occur when a prealloyed powder
is used (c and d). Prealloying can also be used to reduce oxidation of
metallic powders.
 Direct SLS
• Direct SLS utilizes a high-energy Laser beam to directly consolidate
a metal or cermet powder to densities greater than 80% of
theoretical density.
• The advantage is that many of the pre- and post-processing steps
associated with indirect SLS are eliminated.
• Mixed powders enable direct SLS without the use of a polymer
binder or a specially developed metal powder. The firsts Direct
Metal laser Sintering (DMLS) machine was developed in 1995.
• The material to be sintered comprises a structural powder with a
high melting point and a binder powder with a low melting point so
as to promote liquid phase sintering (LPS).
• For instance, while sintering Ni-Sn, Ni melts at 1455°C whereas Sn
melts at 232°C and the resulting compound can be composed of
Ni2Sn, Ni3Sn2, and/or Ni3Sn4.
 SLS part

8-Nov-22 13
 SLS Materials
• Polyamide. Trade named “DuraForm”, this material is used to create
rigid and rugged plastic parts for functional engineering
environments. This material is durable, can be machined or even
welded where required. A variation of this material is the
polyamide based composite system, incorporating glass-filled
powders, to produce even more rugged engineering parts. This
composite material improves the resistance to heat and chemicals.

• Thermoplastic elastomer. Flexible, rubber-like parts can be

prototyped using the SLS. Trade named, “SOMOS® 201”, the
material produces parts with high elongation. Yet, it is able to resist
abrasion and provides good part stability. The material is
impermeable to water and ideal for sports shoe applications and
engineering seals.
 SLS Materials
• Polycarbonate. An industry-standard engineering thermoplastic. These are
suitable for creating concept and functional models and prototypes,
investment casting patterns for metal prototypes and cast tooling (with
the Rapid Casting process), masters for duplication processes, and sand
casting patterns. These materials only require a 10–20 W laser to work
and are useful for visualizing parts and working prototypes that do not
carry heavy loads. These parts can be built quickly and are excellent for
prototypes and patterns with fine features.

• Nylon. Another industry-standard engineering thermoplastic. This material

is suitable for creating models and prototypes that can withstand and
perform in demanding environment. It is one of the most durable rapid
prototyping materials currently available in the industry, and it offers
substantial heat and chemical resistance. A variation of this is the Fine
Nylon and is used to create fine-featured parts for working prototypes. It is
durable, resistant to heat and chemicals, and is excellent when fine detail
is required.
 SLS Materials
• Metal. This is a material where polymer coated stainless steel
powder is infiltrated with bronze. Trade named “LaserForm ST-100”,
the material is excellent for producing core inserts and
preproduction tools for injection molding prototype polymer parts.
The material exhibits high durability and thermal conductivity and
can be used for relatively large-scale production tools. An
alternative material is the copper polyamide metal–polymer
composite system which can be applied to tooling for injection
molding small batch production of plastic parts.

• Ceramics. Trade named “SandForm Zr” and “Sandform Si”, these

use zircon and silica coated with phenolic binder to produce
complex sand cores and molds for prototype sand castings of metal
parts.
 POST-PROCESSING
• Since SLS processes (indirect as well as direct) yield green parts with
significant porosity, they need to be post-processed so as to build
part strength.
• Post-processing may involve some or all of the following four steps:
• Binder removal : Parts to be debinded are usually packed in
alumina and then placed in a cold oven. Next, the oven is heated to
200°C and held there for 3-4 hours to let the polymer drain into the
packing material.
• Sintering of the remaining metal or powder: the part is heated at a
rate of 100 °C /hr to a higher holding temperature. During the
sintering stage, microscopic welds form at particle contacts. The
necks so formed lead to atomic diffusion even in the absence of
isostatic pressing. Until the neck structure has formed, the parts are
too weak to be handled. However, there remains sufficient porosity
that could be filled through subsequent infiltration.
 POST-PROCESSING
• Infiltration: Infiltration can be done from the top or the side. If
done from the top, infiltration should be done in a separate furnace
cycle where the lower melting infiltrating medium is placed on the
top of the part.
• Surface finishing: Bead blasting is used to remove excess powders
embedded in part surfaces. Abrasive tumbling is used to improve
finish on all accessible surfaces. However, these two processes can
damage small features such as sharp comers on the part.
• Pores and stair steps can be covered by means of surface coating.
Hand sanding is used to remove excess material as well as to obtain
improved finish. More recently, robotic finishing has been
attempted
 PROCESS ACCURACY
• Parts inaccuracy in SLS can arise from several sources: stairstepping,
quantization, galvanometer errors, temperature variations within
the powder bed, trapped volumes, and shrinkage/curling.
• An overall appreciation of the accuracy of parts producible on a
given machine can be obtained by fabricating and inspecting
'benchmark' parts.
• Specifications of a benchmark part for assessing SLS process
accuracy while producing parts made up of nylon, glass filled nylon,
polycarbonate, Protoform composite, and acrylic based TrueForm
PM materials and the corresponding accuracy testing protocol are
available.
 Advantages
(1) Good part stability. Parts are created within a precise controlled
environment. The process and materials provide for directly
produced functional parts to be built.
(2) Wide range of processing materials. A wide range of materials
including nylon, polycarbonates, metals and ceramics are available,
thus providing flexibility and a wide scope of functional
applications.
(3) No part supports required. The system does not require CAD
developed support structures. This saves the time required for
support structure building and removal.
(4) Little post-processing required. The finishing of the part is
reasonably fine and requires only minimal post-processing such as
particle blasting and sanding.
 Advantages
(5) No post-curing required. The completed laser sintered part is
generally solid enough and does not require further curing.
(6) Advanced software support. The New Version 2.0 software uses a
Windows® NT-style graphical user interface (GUI). Apart from the
basic features, it allows for streamlined parts scaling, advanced
nonlinear parts scaling, in-progress part changes, build report
utilities and is available in foreign languages .
 Disadvantages
(1) Large physical size of the unit. The system requires a relatively
large space to house it. Apart from this, additional storage
space is required to house the inert gas tanks used for each
build.
(2) High power consumption. The system requires high power
consumption due to the high wattage of the laser required to
sinter the powder particles together.
(3) Poor surface finish. The as-produced parts tend to have
poorer surface finish due to the relatively large particle sizes
of the powders used.
 Applications
(1) Concept models. Physical representations of designs used to review
design ideas, form and style.

(2) Functional models and working prototypes. Parts that can

withstand limited functional testing, or fit and operate within an
assembly.

(3) Polycarbonate (Rapid Casting) patterns. Patterns produced using

polycarbonate, then cast in the metal of choice through the
standard investment casting process. These build faster than wax
patterns and are ideally suited for designs with thin walls and fine
features. These patterns are also durable and heat resistant.

(4) Metal tools (Rapid Tool). Direct rapid prototype of tools of molds
for small or short production runs.
 Selective laser melting (SLM)
• The process starts by slicing the 3D CAD file data into layers, usually
from 20 microns to 100 microns thick, creating a 2D image of each
layer; this file format is the industry standard STL file used on most
layer based 3D printing or Stereolithography technologies.

• This file is then loaded into a file preparation software package that
assigns parameters, values and physical supports that allow the file
to be interpreted and built by different types of additive
manufacturing machines.

• With SLM thin layers of atomised fine metal powder are evenly
distributed using a coating mechanism onto a substrate plate,
usually metal, that is fastened to an indexing table that moves in
the vertical (Z) axis.
 Selective laser melting (SLM)
• This takes place inside a chamber containing a tightly controlled
atmosphere of inert gas, either Argon or Nitrogen at oxygen levels
below 500 parts per million.
• Once each layer has been distributed each 2D slice of the part
geometry is fused by selectively applying the laser energy to the
powder surface, by directing the focused laser beam using two high
frequency scanning mirrors in the X and Y axes.
• The laser energy is intense enough to permit full melting (welding)
of the particles to form solid metal. The process is repeated layer
after layer until the part is complete.
Selective laser melting (SLM)
 SLM - Materials
• Most machines operate with a build chamber of 250 mm in X & Y
and up to 350 mm Z (although larger machines up to 500 mm X,Y,Z
and smaller machines do exist).
• The types of materials that can be processed include Stainless
Steel, Tool Steel, Cobalt Chrome, Titanium & Aluminium, all must
exist in atomised form and exhibit certain flow characteristics in
order to be process capable.
 SLM - Applications
• The types of applications most suited to the SLM process are
complex geometries & structures with thin walls and hidden voids
or channels.
• Used in Medical industry for applications such as a hip stem or
acetabular cup or other orthopedic implant where oseointegration
is enhanced by the surface geometry.
• SLM allows parts to be built additively rather than by removing
waste material to form near net shape components.
 SLS, DMLS and SLM comparison
• Generally SLS or LS is the term used for laser sintering of plastics
while DMLS is used with metals.
• The difference is that SLM achieves a full melt while DMLS sinters
the powders.
• This means that DMLS only works with alloys (nickelalloy, Ti64 etc.)
while SLM can use single component metals such as aluminium.
 Laser Engineered Net Shaping-LENS
• Laser engineered net shaping or LENS is a technology developed by
Sandia National Laboratories for fabricating metal parts directly
from a computer-aided design (CAD) solid model by using a metal
powder injected into a molten pool created by a focused, high-
powered laser beam.

• This technology is being commercialized and distributed by

Optomec.

• Primary applications for LENS technology include repair & overhaul,

rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, and limited run
manufacturing for aerospace, defense, and medical markets.

• Microscopy studies show the LENS parts to be fully dense with no

compositional degradation.
• Mechanical testing reveals outstanding as-fabricated mechanical
properties.
 LENS - Materials
It can produce parts in a wide range of alloys, including
• titanium
• stainless steel
• aluminum
• tool steel
• Inconel
• copper and other specialty materials
• composite and functionally graded materials.
 LENS
• The process can also make "near" net shape parts when it's not
possible to make an item to exact specifications.
• In these cases, post processes like light machining, surface finishing,
or heat treatment may be applied to achieve end compliance.
• LENS systems deliver a unique laser-based manufacturing solution
that cost effectively produces and repairs high value metal
components, such as the titanium fan blades used in gas turbine
engines.
 LASER ENGINEERED NET
SHAPING (LENS) - Principle
The LENS process is based on the following two principles:
(1) A high power Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum
garnet) laser is used to melt metal powder supplied coaxially
to the focus of the laser beam through a deposition head.
• The laser beam typically travels through the center of the
head and is focused to a small spot by one or more lenses.
(2) The X-Y table is moved horizontally and laterally to fabricate
each layer of the object.
• The machine’s powder delivery nozzle is moved up vertically
as each layer is completed.
Laser Engineered
Net Shaping
 LENS - Process
• The LENS process builds components
in an additive manner from
powdered metals using a Nd:YAG
laser to fuse powder to a solid.
• It is a freeform metal fabrication
process in which a fully dense metal
component is formed.
• Steps involved:
(1) A deposition head supplies metal
powder to the focus of a high
Metal powders are delivered and distributed
powered Nd:YAG laser beam to be
around the circumference of the head either
melted. This laser is typically
directed by fiber optics or precision by gravity, or by using a pressurized carrier
angled mirrors. gas.
The LENS system uses 4 nozzles to make 3-
dimensional, high-density, parts and molds
from the inside out.
 LENS - Process
(2) The laser is focused on a particular spot by a
series of lenses, and a motion system
underneath the platform moves horizontally
and laterally as the laser beam traces the
cross-section of the part being produced.
The fabrication process takes place in a low-
pressure argon chamber for oxygen-free
operation in the melting zone, ensuring that
good adhesion is accomplished.
(3) When a layer is completed, the deposition
head moves up and continues with the next
layer. The process is repeated layer by layer
until the part is completed. The entire
process is usually enclosed to isolate the
process from the atmosphere. Generally the
prototypes need additional finishing, but are
fully dense products with good grain
formation.
 Advantages
(1) Superior material properties. The LENS process is capable of
producing fully dense metal parts. Metal parts produced can
also include embedded structures and superior material
properties. The microstructure produced is also relatively
good.
(2) Complex parts. Functional metal parts with complex features
are the forte of the LENS system.
(3) Reduced post-processing requirements. Post-processing is
minimized, thus reducing cycle time.
 Disadvantages
1. Limited materials. The process is currently narrowly focused
to produce only metal parts.
2. Large physical unit size. The unit requires a relatively large
area to house.
3. High power consumption. The laser system requires very
high wattage.
 Applications
(1) Build mold and die inserts
(2) Producing titanium parts in racing industry
(3) Fabricate titanium components for biological implants
(4) Produce functionally gradient structures

An attractive feature of LENS is that the

powder composition can be changed
dynamically and continuously, so it is
possible to build multimaterial and
functionally graded parts.

Metallic hip implant

Products - LENS

(a) Hips fabricated by LENS

(b) repaired blisks using LENS
(c) mixing nozzle for gas turbine exhaust
for Bell helicopter produced by LENS
 Electron Beam Melting-EBM
• Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is a type of rapid prototyping
for metal parts.
• The technology manufactures parts by melting metal powder
layer per layer with an electron beam in a high vacuum.
• Electron Beam Melting is also referred to as Electron Beam
Machining.
• High speed electrons 0.5-0.8 times the speed of light are
bombarded on the surface of the work material generating
enough heat to melt the surface of the part and cause the
material to locally vaporize.
 EBM does require a vacuum

• EBM does require a vacuum, meaning that the workpiece is

limited in size to the vacuum used.
• The surface finish on the part is much better than that of
other manufacturing processes.
• EBM can be used on metals, non-metals, ceramics, and
composites. (Titanium, Titanium Grade 2, Cobalt-Chrome)
• The process uses a high power electron beam that is 95
percent efficient 5 to 10 times more so than a laser beam.
• This efficiency results in the creation of parts 3 to 5 times
faster than other metal additive-fabrication methods, and it
uses only seven kW of average power.
 Principle - EBM

The EBM process is based on the following two principles :

(1) Parts are built up when an electron beam is fired at the metal
powder. The computer controlled electron beam in vacuum
melts the layer of powder precisely as indicated by the CAD
model with the gain of the electrons’ kinetic energy.
(2) The building of the part is accomplished layer by layer. A layer
is added once the previous layer has melted. In this way, the
solid details are built up of thin metal slices melted together.
 Process

(1) The part to be produced is first designed in a 3D CAD

program. The model is then sliced into thin layers,
approximately a tenth of a millimeter thick.
(2) An equally thin layer of powder is scraped onto a vertically
adjustable surface. The first layer’s geometry is then created
through the layer of powder melting together at those points
directed from the CAD file with a computer-controlled
electron beam.
(3) Thereafter, the building surface is lowered and the next layer
of powder is placed on top of the previous layer. The
procedure is then repeated so that the object from the CAD
model is shaped layer by layer until a finished metal part is
completed.
 Benefits and Limitations
• Its ability to make very small and accurate cuts.
• It can drill holes on the order of a few nanometers.
• EBM offers a good alternative to LBM because of its better surface
quality and the fact that it does not have as great of a heat affected
zone.
• Geometry of the workpiece is a nonissue.

• Because EBM requires a vacuum in which to operate, the size of the

workpiece is limited; this is the main limitation on the process.
 Applications
• The EBM process is used to manufacture H13 tool steel
injection and compression molding tools, functional
prototypes and components in small batches.
• Achieving target material properties is important for any
demanding application, for orthopaedic
implants and aerospace applications it is absolutely crucial.
• Extensive testing has verified that EBM-built material fulfills
all relevant standards with regards to:
– Chemical composition
– Mechanical properties (static as well as fatigue)
– Microstructure