Manufacturing of Metal and Ceramic Parts Using Selective Laser Sintering

摘要

Ever since Rapid Prototyping (RP) methods have become popular in the producing industries, there has been a growing demand for functional prototypes, which accurately reproduce the characteristics of serial parts. The development of processes such as Fused Deposition Modeling of ABS or Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) of polyamide could satisfy some of the demands while Rapid Prototyping of metals and ceramics is still to a large extent unexploited. The Fraunhofer Institute of Production Technology (IPT) and the Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology (ILT) have joined forces in a project dedicated to Selective Laser Sintering of metals and ceramics, funded by the German Government and 6 industrial partners. This paper will discuss possible approaches to Selective Laser Sintering of metals and ceramics and present current results concerning laser sintering of parts made from metal and ceramic powders.