DMLS CONCEPT

As one of the promising Rapid Prototyping (RP) processes, the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) technique is capable of building prototype parts by depositing and melting metal powders layer by layer. By adjusting an identified set of process parameters, the properties of the parts can be properly controlled. The process parameters involve: the laser scan speed, laser power, hatching distance, layer thickness. But the relationships between these parameters and their resulting properties are quite complicated. In many cases, the effects of different parameters on the resulting properties contradict one another. In the past few years the range of materials commercially available for DMLS has greatly increased, and with it the range of achievable part properties and applications. Fabrication of Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) is one such important area that has come forward.