Laser Sintering Technology for Additive Manufacturing with Polymers

Dear Colleagues:

Laser sintering (LS) with plastics is one of the most promising additive manufacturing (AM) technologies today. It is currently regarded as the process which is most likely, in the future, to permanently cross the border between prototyping and the serial production of functional parts. This step is challenging because it means that the technology must meet certain requirements that are also valid for traditional and established production processes. Only by succeeding at this step can industry-wide acceptance of LS be expected in the future.

However, LS with polymers is a complex progression as, on the one hand, the material has to fulfil a specific multiplicity of intrinsic and extrinsic properties, and on the other hand, process conditions influence the sintering results (part quality) to a great extent. For this reason, the request for new polymer powders suitable for LS-processing is also challenging. On the side of the materials, molecular design of polymers and process additives are topics to tune the properties towards LS. Furthermore, powder production in order to gain the desired particle distributions and shape factors are sectors in which the industry is keen to see progress. Understanding powder behavior in general and specifically under the circumstances of LS processing is another core subject for further advancement. Physical processes like interaction of laser radiation with material on the photon level should be understood as well as crystallization and melting behavior of polymers under the complex LS process conditions. LS equipment improvements on all levels, e.g., regarding powder supply and handling, improved heating systems, and of course the whole field of data control and evaluation, also for quality purposes, is important for progress as well. The Special Issue of Applied Sciences will focus on all these topics and furthers subjects correlated with LS technology and collect articles presenting outstanding progress of research ongoing on all levels of material and process enhancement to push the technology forward. Articles reporting both concise reviews of recently obtained results and new findings produced in this broad research area are highly welcome. Furthermore, the topics are not entirely limited to LS, but related processes based on polymer powders like multijet fusion (MJF) or high-speed sintering (HSS) will also be accepted.

Dr. Manfred Schmid
Guest Editor

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