Development and validation of a low-cost polymer selective laser sintering machine.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) machines are expensive and have restrictive processing parameters, limiting research into new materials.
• Additive manufacturing offers potential for novel material development but is hindered by equipment accessibility and customization limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the construction and operation of a low-cost, customizable polymer SLS machine.
• To enable researchers to overcome limitations of commercial SLS systems for material processing exploration.

Main Methods:

• A custom SLS machine was built featuring a heated powder bed, a 2.44 W diode laser for consolidation, and a roller system for powder deposition.
• The machine utilizes G-code execution in Mach3 for full control over processing parameters.
• Polyamide-12 was processed to evaluate machine performance.

Main Results:

• The custom SLS machine successfully produced parts from polyamide-12.
• Achieved material density of 918 ± 9 kg/m³.
• Resulting mechanical properties include an elastic modulus of 358.36 ± 3.04 MPa and elongation at break of 11.13 ± 0.02%.

Conclusions:

• The developed low-cost SLS machine provides a viable alternative to commercial systems for material research.
• This customizable 3D printing tool can significantly assist researchers in exploring the processing of novel polymers.
• The machine's performance is comparable to commercial systems, making it valuable for academic and industrial research.