Three-dimensional in-process temperature measurement of laser sintered part cakes

An uneven temperature distribution and varying cooling rates at different positions within the part cake are two of the most important challenges regarding the part quality and reproducibility of the polymer laser sintering process. In the presented work, a temperature measurement system is implemented within an EOSINT P395 laser sintering system. It allows the determination of a three dimensional temperature distribution and history during the full build and cooling process. The influence of important job parameters, for example the packing density, job height and layer thickness, can be figured out. In combination with a finite element simulation of the cooling process, the temperature measurement will be the basis for optimized process controls.