Process Monitoring in Laser Sintering Using Thermal Imaging

Abstract

In laser sintering, inhomogeneous shrinkage, warpage, in-build curling and poor repeatability of part properties are well-known problems. All these effects are significantly influenced by the inhomogeneous temperature distribution on the powder bed surface. For this reason, it is often asked for the integration of additional measuring equipment into the machines for advanced process monitoring. In the research done, a thermal imaging system was successfully integrated into a laser sintering machine. Analyses were performed to understand the correlations between process parameters, the distribution of surface temperatures as well as the temperature of the melted material, and their influence on part properties.