Selective laser sintering adaptation tools for cost effective fabrication of biomedical prototypes

Purpose - In recent years, selective laser sintering (SLS) has been used in the biomedical field, including building small-scaled biomedical devices such as tissue engineering scaffolds and drug delivery devices. A compact adaptation system for the SLS is needed to obtain a more effective and efficient way of sintering small-scale prototypes so as to reduce powder wastage. Limitations of available smaller-scale adaptation devices include the need of additional electrical supplies for the device. The purpose of this paper is to report the development of such a system to be mounted at the SLS part bed without any additional energy supply. Design/methodology/approach - The compact adaptation device works on the concept of transferring the motion of the SLS part bed onto the part bed of the compact adaptation device. The device is an integrated attachment that is fixed onto the building platform of the SLS. The gear system of the device lifts the powder supply bed at both sides of the device simultaneously when the part bed at the center of the device is lowered. To further increase powder saving, an improved powder delivery system named alternative supply mechanism (ASM) is mounted on top of the roller to be coupled together with the compact adaptation device. Findings - Powder saving up to 6.5 times compared to using full build version of the Sinterstation 2500 has been achieved by using the compact adaptation device. Furthermore, powder wastage has been reduced by 84 percent when using the ASM compared to the compact adaptation device alone. Originality/value - The paper demonstrates the development and viability of adaptation devices for SLS to significantly reduce powder consumption by using solely mechanical means to build small parts without using external power supply.