An Apparatus for Research on Processes of Selective Laser Sintering of Powder Materials with High Spatial Resolution

Abstract—An apparatus for selective laser sintering of micron and submicron fraction powders is described. The apparatus allows studies with small volumes of polymer powders, as well as aqueous and alcoholic suspensions to refine the sintering process in order to achieve high spatial resolution (on the order of 10 μm). Thin (approximately 20 μm) layers of spherical microparticles of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) with an average diameter of 0.5 to 3 μm were formed. Optimization of the parameters of selective laser sintering and stepwise formation of single layers of PMMA allowed us to obtain 3D structures with a resolution of less than 100 μm.