International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering

2012. 10, 1: 59-68

Investigation of Dimensional Accuracy/Mechanical Properties of Part Produced by Selective Laser Sintering

Sharanjit Singh*, Anish Sachdeva, and Vishal S Sharma
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B R Ambedkar National Institute of
Technology, Jalandhar, India
Abstract: Selective laser sintering (SLS) process has the potential to become one of the most
useful additive manufacturing techniques in coming few years, because it has potential to easily
produced complex shapes. Use of this process becomes more extensive, with the main advantages being a wide range of build materials available. So SLS can accommodate multiple applications throughout the manufacture process. It comes early with three main applications: conceptual models, functional prototypes, and pattern masters. Since then they have been added with
an extra module, which incorporates rapid tooling. Only disadvantage of SLS process that it is
both time consuming and expensive when a new material comes into use. In this paper we will
investigate the effect of part placement (X and Y direction) in the build on the dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties of part produced by this SLS process.
Keywords: Rapid manufacturing; Selective laser sintering; dimensional accuracy; mechanical
properties
1. Introduction
In SLS process the parts can be made out of
common engineering thermo-plastics such as
polyamides, ABS, polycarbonate, nylons to
metal parts such as titanium, stainless steel
and tool steel [1]. RP has grown as integral
part of the new product development process,
since the delivery of the first commercial
machine. With the help of rapid manufacturing the production time and production cost of
product has been reduced. But there is one
major drawback of this process regarding the
part accuracy. This is main worry of industries
such as aerospace and bio-medical which
would like to use this technology for producing directly usable products. The capability to
produce a part in hours without any tooling is
a great advantage for many industries. With
*

the stronger plastics and even metallic materials used in some of the RP processes, parts
can be produced that will withstand reasonable amount of stress and higher temperature
ranges. In order to improve the accuracy of
the part, the shrinkage behavior of parts during manufacture needs to be better understood.
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a rapid
manufacturing process by which we can directly produce the parts from CAD model
without part specific tooling. In this process
metallic and nonmetallic parts can be produced layer by layer as shown in Figure 1.
SLS uses fine powder which is spread uniformly by a roller on the machine bed and
scanned selectively by a laser of power

Corresponding author; e-mail: malhi.sharanjit@gmail.com

2012 Chaoyang University of Technology, ISSN 1727-2394

Received 11 April 2011

Revised 2 October 2011
Accepted 12 December 2011

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

59

Sharanjit Singh, Anish Sachdeva, and Vishal S Sharma

25100W such that the surface tension of the

grains is overcome and they are sintered together. First powder is pre-heated to temperature slightly below the sintering temperature
of the material by infra red heaters to minimize thermal distortion and to facilitate fusion
to the previous layer. Laser then scans the
cross-sectional area identified for the current
slice, thus sintering of the powder takes place.
After this again a fresh layer of powder is
deposited across the part bed, and the process

is repeated until the final part has been completed. During this process the previous layers
of un-sintered powder act as a support for any
overhanging features. Once the build is complete, the part, encased in un-sintered powder,
is left to cool to approximately 40 C, at
which point the powder is brushed away, revealing the final part.

Figure 1. Block diagram of Selective laser Sintering (SLS) process [2]

2. Literature review
As explained earlier SLS is one of the rapid
manufacturing processes from which we can
produce durable and functional parts from a
wide range of prototype materials. The parts
are wear resistant, durable and chemical resistant [3]. These parts can be made to bend,
snap or assemble together and form flexible
hinges [4]. Still, parts produced by SLS are
unfortunate in terms of accuracy due to the
various errors accumulating from data preparation stage to finishing stage. One of the
main reasons of size and shape variations of
the part is shrinkage during processing. In the
below paragraphs we explain some of the earlier work carried out by researchers to study
shrinkage in SLS process.
First in 1996 Rock and Misiolek [5] provided a general idea of powder- based rapid
prototyping processes with particular empha60

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

sis on the freeform powder molding process.

The causes of distortion were investigated and
traditional distortion controlling approaches
were reviewed. An experimental technique
was formulated for characterizing process-induced
distortion
arising
from
non-uniform component shrinkage, and the
experimental outcomes highlighted the often
overlooked role of component geometry on
the distortion. Their research led to fairly enhanced computational system capability of
automated compensation for process-induced
distortions.
Childs et al. [6] reported on the thermal and
powder densification modeling of the SLS of
amorphous polycarbonate. The investigation
had been done with three strategies i.e. analytical, adaptive finite mesh difference, and
fixed finite mesh element. An assessment
between the three strategies and the experimental outcomes was used to reliably esti-

Investigation of Dimensional Accuracy/Mechanical Properties of Part Produced by Selective Laser Sintering

mate their ability to forecast the behavior of

the physical process. The investigation
showed that the densification and linear accuracy due to sintering were generally sensitive to changes in the activation energy and
heat capacity of the polymer. As less important factors of the linear accuracy, the powder
bed density and the powder layer thickness
were included. The authors furthermore
showed that simulations of manufacturing
hollow cylinders and T-shapes feature distortions because of the excessive depth of sintering at the downward-facing surfaces in the
powder bed.
Wang et al. [7] in 2007 made a detailed
study by using neural networks for the effect
of process parameters on shrinkage in SLS
process. They found that percentage shrinkage
increases with increase in the scanning speed
and hatch spacing, but shrinkage generally
decreases with increasing layer thickness, laser power, delay time and part bed temperature. Ragunath and Pandey [8] also studied
the effect of process parameters on the process and material shrinkage. They found that
scan length influences shrinkage in the X direction. They also found that scaling factors
can have a linear relationship with scan length
and derived empirical relations for percentage
shrinkage in terms of scan length by using
Taguchi method. Further, they used scaling
factors based on the maximum dimensions
not on the individual scan lengths while
compensating using the model developed by
them.
Zhang and Faghri [9] investigated the different melting points of a mixture of two
powders under the regular melting process in
a physical model. The temperature distributions in liquid and solid phases during the
SLS process were studied. Porosities of powder generated shrinkage when they were
changed into the liquid phases of the sintering
process and the effects were projected as a
method through which the shrinkage of the
SLS process can be simulated.
Hopkinson and Sercombe [10] studied the

effect of part height, part position and build

direction on the shrinkage during indirect SLS
by using aluminum powder. They found that
errors diminish with increase in nominal dimensions in infiltrated state than in a green
state for all build condition. They further
found that error in Z direction is more pronounced than in-plane errors due to phenomenon called Z-growth whereby the heat
from the laser penetrates beyond the down
facing surface to bond unwanted particles.
They characterized tolerances feasible on different build orientations and initiate that a
tolerance of 0.1 mm is achievable for a 40
mm part in the XY direction and 0.3 mm in
Z direction. Zhu et al. [11] investigated the
shrinkage behavior in metal powders. They
quantified two types of shrinkages namely
thermal shrinkage and sintering shrinkage.
They found that in-plane shrinkage (X and Y
shrinkage) is very fewer as compared to the
shrinkage in the build direction. They further
found that the sintering shrinkage is mainly
caused by densification and is a kind of elastic compressive reduction. They recommended that thermal shrinkage due to cyclic
heating can be lowered by controlling process
parameters. They investigated that, the thermal shrinkage increases with increase in laser
power and shrinkage decreases with increase
in scan speed and scan spacing. Ning et al.
[12] measured the effect of geometry on the
shrinkage of metallic parts. They provided the
speed compensation technique based on the
scan length. In their method, when building a
part, the laser scan speed is adjusted dynamically according to the scan length which varies with geometric shape of the part. The different scan speeds for the scan lengths are selected based on the shrinkage values at different speeds.
Ning et al. [13] made number of experiments for direct metal laser sintering (DMLS)
process to discover the effect of hatch length
on the material anisotropy, heterogeneity and
part strength. They concluded that short hatch
lines cause serious shrinkage and the part beInt. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

61

Sharanjit Singh, Anish Sachdeva, and Vishal S Sharma

comes less homogeneous. They formulate an

algorithm to locate optimal hatch direction for
a typical layer by taking into account the
shrinkage as a function of hatch length.
Manetsberger et al. [14] investigated the effect of temperature, time and pressure on the
shrinkage of polymer parts. They used a
thermal simulation as a basis for shrinkage
compensation in SLS process. They articulated shrinkage values as a function of temperature and also showed a linear dependency
to the pressure applied. Further Jacobs [15]
studied the effects of shrinkage variation on
the accuracy of rapid tooling inserts. This
work mainly concentrated on random shrinkage and initiate that standard deviation of
random shrinkage is directly proportional to
the mean process shrinkage. He also originate
that no uniformity in shrinkage is mainly attributed to geometry of the part. He summarized that key to accuracy and repeatability of
such techniques is the decline of mean process shrinkage to a smallest possible level.
Wang [16] considered the issues in calibration
of shrinkage and beam offset for the SLS
process. Author developed expressions for
shrinkage and beam offset in terms of the
nominal diameter and error after sintering and
the effect of part weight on the percentage
shrinkage also taken into account.
3. General factors effecting accuracy
It is very difficult for us to achieve the desired accuracy in the parts which are produced
different rapid manufacturing processes. The
major reason regarding accuracy is as it is a
function of many different factors, some of
which can be interdependent. The factors that
most influence RP accuracy are basic STL
files and material used.
In this SLS machines the CAD model is
employed in the standard STL input file format. It approximates the surface of the three
dimensional CAD model by triangles. Facets
are hard to avoid on curved surfaces and can
sometimes appear on the final model. The
62

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

accuracy of STL files can be controlled at the

time of their generation by modifying the
chord height and the angle control factor.
Unluckily, if triangles small enough to generate, very soft surfaces are generated, large
data files will work otherwise [3]. There are
varieties of metallic and polymer based materials which can be processed by SLS. All have
different properties and characteristics that
can have an effect on part accuracy. The main
cause of part inaccuracy is the shrinkage during sintering which does not always take
place in a uniform manner. The shrinkage of a
new layer can be constrained by the existing
part substrate or by support powder trapped
within enclosed areas. In addition, areas at
high temperatures have a tendency to shrink
more than those at lower temperatures and
part geometries such as thick walls or sections
can increase the shrinkage. To compensate for
shrinkage, a scaling factor is applied in each
direction to the STL file. On the other hand,
scaling a three-dimensional faceted file uniformly is not a simple task and the resulting
geometry can be slightly distorted compared
with the nominal geometry, depending on the
different scaling technique used.
4. Experimentation
In the SLS process there are number of
process parameters that are strongly controlled by the operator. The process parameters have been decided by the knowledge, literature review and experience of the machine
operator. The various process parameters include layer thickness, laser power, hatch
spacing, scanning speed, part bed temperature
and scanning mode as shown in Table 1.
4.1. Selection of process parameters
The range of 25-100W laser power available with CO2 laser in the machine used for
experimentation. Generally 62% of the maximum power is used in the experiment because
curling is examined at higher laser powers.

Investigation of Dimensional Accuracy/Mechanical Properties of Part Produced by Selective Laser Sintering

Scan speed as 2.54 m/s is taken to lower the

build time. The laser spot size and energy
density used in the experiments are also according to requirements. The process parameters used for contour exposure are lower
laser power and scan speed compared to
hatching exposure in order to achieve a good

surface finish. If the part is not permitted to

cool in controlled environment for long time,
the part tend to warp due to faster cooling in
outside environment. During faster cooling
part develops significant stresses causing
post-build war page. So the part is allowed to
cool inside the platform for 4-5 h.

Table 1. Process parameters set for the experiments

S No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Parameters
Build chamber temp. (C)
Left Feed set Point(C)
Right Feed set Point(C)
Laser power (W)
Scan speed (m/s)
Layer thickness (m)
Hatch spacing (m)
Scan Count

Value
176
130
130
29.5
2.54
0.1 10-3
0.26 10-3
1

4.2. Details of material

4.3. Layout of SLS test parts

Specimens Figure 2 (a) used in the study

are fabricated by using Polyamide Duraform
powder having particle size 75 to 100 m.
The material is semi-crystalline in nature. In
an SLS process generally we use mixture of
fresh powder and previously used but unsintered powder for building parts. After gone
through a heating cycle, the previously used
powder has properties which are different
from virgin powder. The material used was
refreshed and the ratio of mixing is 70% used
powder and 30% virgin powder. Use of more
amounts of fresh powder cause curling in
product, so only 30% fresh powder can be
used to produce parts [17].

In this SLS set up these five parts are made

in process station (Vanguard HS) as shown in
Fig 2 (c). The parts are actually situated in the
build as shown in the Fig 2 (b). Central part
(Part 3) is exactly at the center of the build
and the other pasts at the equal distances from
the center i.e. the origin of other parts at
35mm away from the center of the build. It
was known qualitatively, from sintering performance experience, that there is little delay
in sintering of parts placed in the same
plane/build. So further tests, i.e. the manufacture of different parts are carried out over the
same range of parameters as for the rectangular blocks, to provide samples for the different
measurements.

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

63

Sharanjit Singh, Anish Sachdeva, and Vishal S Sharma

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 2. (a) CAD model of specimen used to study, (b) Layout of different parts placed in machine
bed, (c) SLS setup used for fabrication of parts
5. Measurements
(a) Dimensional accuracy: Dimensional accuracy of SLS specimens as shown in Fig
3(a) is expressed by error S1, for each value,
three measurements are taken and the average value is taken. Dimensional accuracy
of the part is represented with the dimensional error S1, which is defined as:
A A0
S1= 1
(1)
100
A0
where A0 is the design size given by the
computer, A1 is the actual size measured by
a varnier caliper.
(b) Mechanical properties: Following are the
different mechanical properties like tensile
strength, elongation at break and density of
SLS specimens examined under ambient
conditions. The tensile specimens were
tested at universal testing machine as shown
in Figure 3(b).
(c) Microstructure: Surface photographs have
64

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

been taken with the metallurgical microscope.

6. Results and Discussion
6.1. Dimensional accuracy of different
parts
The dimensional accuracy of the different
parts has been measured and the results are
shown in Table 2. From the results we find
that this polyamide powder expands during
sintering. This expansion acutely influences
the accurate powder spreading and eventually
influences the dimensional accuracy of
specimens, with a maximum error of up to
0.192 per cent. The main reason for this expansion is that powder has a high linear expansion ratio. Further the effect of part layout
on the accuracy has no obvious difference as
the distance in X axis and Y axis increases
from the origin, there is little increase in dimensional accuracy error S% as the distance

Investigation of Dimensional Accuracy/Mechanical Properties of Part Produced by Selective Laser Sintering

in Y axis progresses.
6.2. Mechanical properties
The mechanical properties of the polyamide SLS specimens are listed in Table 3. From
calculated values we find that tensile strength
and elongation at break of these SLS specimens are very poor. The main reason is that

these parts have a low density and a huge

number of cavities inside. Further the effect of
layout on mechanical properties on different
parts, as we progresses along Y axis there is
little decrease in mechanical properties.

Table 2. Dimensional accuracy of SLS Parts

S
No.

Measurements

1.

Length of side

2.

Width of rib

3.

Thickness

4.

Circle at center

5.
6.

A0

X
Y
X
Y
Z

30
30
1
1
3.75

Dimensional accuracy of different part

S1% of S1% of S1% of S1% of S1% of
Part 1
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
0.25
0.264
0.258
0.254
0.265
0.26
0.263
0.257
0.261
0.264
0.12
0.18
0.09
0.07
0.19
0.12
0.19
0.06
-0.03
0.19
0.33
0.333
0.333
0.336
0.370

Thickness of Base

R1
R2
R3
R4
Z

1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.25

0.073
0.086
0.060
0.04
0.416

-0.04
-0.033
-0.006
-0.04
0.448

0.113
-0.02
0.106
0.046
0.464

0.133
0.186
0.146
0.113
0.456

-0.14
0.03
0.12
0.04
0.528

Avg.

S%

0.138

0.156

0.170

0.192

0.185

Table 3. Mechanical properties of SLS parts

S No.

Mechanical Properties

1.

Tensile strength (MPa)

Values of different parts

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
47.49
47.48 47.48 47.48

2.

Elongation at break (%)

17.3

17.2

17.2

17.0

17.1

3.

Density (gm/cc)

0.960

0.958

0.558

0.57

0.595

The photographs of different samples are

taken on metallurgical microscope as shown
in Fig 4. From these we finds that the powder
particles are not closely packed, and we can
still easily finds the different powder particles.

Part 5
47.45

Only adjoining particles join together these

results different pores in the parts, which are
evident of evolved gases from the sintered
part/engulfed air bubble.
These are possible due to the evaluation of

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012. 10, 1

65

Sharanjit Singh, Anish Sachdeva, and Vishal S Sharma

gases during the solidification process, and

results in decrease of mechanical properties of

different parts.

(a)
(b)
Figure 3. (a) Photograph of different specimens to measure S%, (b) Photograph of universal testing
machine with sample

Figure 4. The microstructure of different parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 as shown in layout respectively

66

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng., 2012.10, 1

Investigation of Dimensional Accuracy/Mechanical Properties of Part Produced by Selective Laser Sintering

7. Conclusion
In the dimensional accuracy of different
parts comes maximum error of up to 0.192
per cent. There is little increase in dimensional accuracy error S% of parts as we progress towards Y axis in the build.
In the case of different mechanical properties of parts are deprived due to high porosity,
results that parts are weaker in strength. In
this case same effect also seen i.e. as we progresses along Y axis there is little decrease in
mechanical properties.
There is not too much effect of part placement in the build on the dimensional accuracy
as well as different mechanical properties in
X direction. But as discussed above it has
some influence in Y direction.

[ 6]

[ 7]

[ 8]

Acknowledgements
The manufacturing and experimentation of
parts have been done at Rapid Prototyping
Center, Center Tool Room Ludhiana, Punjab,
INDIA.
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