Experimental analysis of the laser-sintering process from an energetic point of view

Abstract

Additive manufacturing processes such as lasersintering are able to produce end-use parts of nearly any complexity. Furthermore the additive manufacturing offers opportunities for a minimum-waste production and sustainable manufacturing. Hence the laser-sintering process has the potential to be an environmental alternative to conventional processes, but only a few papers deal with time studies, energy consumption as well as powder consumption of the additive manufacturing process. This paper presents first results of analyses of the laser-sintering process from the energetic point of view. First all modes of the process are itemized within a time study. Subsequently attention is paid to the electrical energy consumption, in particular all major consumers are investigated. Finally improvement suggestions for the lasersintering process based on the results are presented.