The 3d printing history started in 1980 when the first early additive manufacturing equipment and materials were developed. Things have changed a lot since then and the field has progressed immensly. Currently this industry is dominated by three major 3D printing technologies. SLA, FDM, and SLS. All three have their disadvantages and advantages however after carefull analysys one might come to conclusion that SLS is the clear winner in the majority of cases.
One of the most important features one should take into account is the speed with which you can create your prototypes or end user parts. If you decide to go the SLS way first of all you are not hindered by the issue of support material removal because the whole system is self-supporting, meaning, for example it allows for part to be built within other parts in a process called nesting. Furthermore the actual production speed increases greatly because you can create different parts or copies of the parts at one go in the same batch, side by side. – Just another benefit of self-supporting system. Another advantage it gives: if the printed parts were designed to be movable, the printout doesn’t need any post-processing whatsoever in order to achieve this effect.The post-processing is easy and takes much less time in comparision to SLA or FDM. This makes SLS the fastest additive manufacturing process for printing functional, durable, prototypes or end user parts.
Another factor is the quality and durability of printouts. SLS is once again a winner in this category. It provides high temperature resistance and the products are very resilient indeed. In result it enables a plethora of finishing possibilities like metallization, stove enameling, vibratory grinding, tub coloring, bonding, powder coating or flocking. The nylon material also provides good chemical resistance and therefore it is quite often used in custom fluid vessel designs. For extra watertightness or when aggressive fluids such as fuel or solvents are to be used the vessel can be coated or lined.
In conclusion SLS has a lot to offer and the technology will only improve and get more affordable with time. It already is widely used in medice. – For printing out 3d models of organs for the doctors to better see and diagnose the illnesses. It can also be used to produce fancy fashion items with highly complex geometry that simply could not be constructed any other way. You can learn more view some of the 3D samples on a website of sls 3d printer, a company that is pushing the envelope in the field of SLS printing.