Manufacturing near dense metal parts via indirect selective laser sintering combined with isostatic pressing

Abstract

To fabricate metal parts via indirect selective laser sintering (SLS), isostatic pressing technology, including hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and cold isostatic pressing (CIP), are exploited to reform SLS green parts and make them near dense. The processes of SLS/HIP and SLS/CIP/HIP technologies are investigated respectively and the densification of AISI304 stainless steel specimens is mainly discussed. It is indicated that green parts made by indirect SLS can be pressed into near dense parts with the relative densities of 67.3% and more than 80% in SLS/HIP and SLS/CIP/HIP routes, respectively, and their densities rise if much higher CIP pressure is employed. Compared with SLS/HIP, SLS/CIP/HIP technology is regarded as a better method to manufactured dense parts, and it enlarges the application domain of indirect SLS simultaneously. © 2007 Springer-Verlag.