Siemens Additive Manufacturing (AM) Network is an online collaborative solution for on-demand product design and distributed AM production.
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a powder bed fusion technique for additive manufacturing (AM) that creates 3D objects by using a laser to selectively heat powdered particles so they fuse together and become a solid structure.
During the sintering process, material is heated just enough to start atomic diffusion between particles – causing them to bind without actually melting. An SLS machine uses a pulsed laser to sinter powdered particles with enough precision to 3D-print parts with highly complex geometries out of materials such as plastic, metal, ceramic, and glass.
Because it can easily create intricate shapes directly from CAD data (after conversion of files to the .STL format) and is compatible with a wide range of materials, selective laser sintering is an extremely versatile technique for manufacturing both prototypes and end-use parts.