Abstract:
Direct selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing technique for the
fabrication of near net shaped parts directly from computer-aided design data by sintering
together different layers with the help of a laser source. This paper presents an investigation
of the physical properties (density and porosity) of alumina (Al2O3) samples produced by
SLS. Some input parameters, namely laser power and scan speed were selected for the
investigation. The aim of this work is to understand the effect of these sintering parameters on
the quality of the sintered layer (surface roughness), physical properties (density and porosity)
and microstructure (grain size) are investigated. The results showed that maximum density of
the sintered ceramics layers are of 3.54 gm/cm3 and minimum porosity of 4.34% were
obtained at laser power 230 W and laser scanning speed 150 mm/min. The morphology was
analyzed by means of field emission scanning electron microscope. Laser power and Scan
speed were found to have a great influence on the surface roughness and morphology.
