Direct Metal Printing Vs Laser Sintering

Learn all about direct metal laser sintering one of few 3d printing technologies capable of making parts directly from metal.

Direct metal printing vs laser sintering.

The metal mass is then placed into a furnace and sintered fusing the particles together without melting it. Many major valuable 3d printing companies including 3d systems slm solutions concept laser and eos sell dmls metal 3d printers that are able to create incredibly intricate metal parts and 3d printed jewelry from precious metals. The direct metal laser sintering dmls process uses lasers to partially melt particles so they adhere to one another. The two are instantiations of the same concept.

Selective laser sintering sls is an additive manufacturing am technique that uses a laser as the power source to sinter powdered material typically nylon or polyamide aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined by a 3d model binding the material together to create a solid structure it is similar to selective laser melting. Direct metal laser sintering dmls is a metal 3d printing technology that creates parts from metal powder. A laser is slowly and steadily moved across the surface to sinter this powder which means that the particles inside the metal are fused together even though the metal is not heated enough to allow it to melt completely. 3d printing isn t just confined to plastic.

Direct metal laser sintering involves spreading a very thin layer of metal powder across the surface that is to be printed. Direct metal laser sintering is the most widely used metal 3d printing technology. Selective laser melting slm also known as direct metal laser melting dmlm or laser powder bed fusion lpbf is a rapid prototyping 3d printing or additive manufacturing technique designed to use a high power density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders together. Dmls uses a high power laser to melt and fuse fine metallic powders together based on a 3d cad design file.

This technology is capable of producing highly detailed and complex parts with excellent precision. A direct metal laser sintering dmls 3d printing machine is capable of producing highly complex features and all in one assemblies using metal materials that would be hard to achieve with more traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques such as cnc milling or turning. Metal sintering processes exist for 3d printing too. This guide covers the direct metal laser sintering process as well as.

These machines print a metal and binder combination layer by layer in a similar way to traditional filament 3d printer or material jetting printer.