Orientation effects for laser sintered polyamide optically translucent parts

Purpose - This paper aims to analyze the additive manufacturing orientation effect of laser sintered polyamide 12 (PA 12) optically translucent parts. Design/methodology/approach - Plates with small features, wedges and lithophanes were laser sintered on a SinterStation HiQ (TM) in different orientations using PA 12. Lithophane performance was assessed using a Picker 240050 X-ray view/light box. All parts were examined using stereomicroscopy to capture the small features. Findings - The quality of the lithophane image was substantially improved by orienting the flat plate side to the incident backlit light. Sintering in the ZX/ZY plane significantly increased the contrast and resolution compared to sintering in the XY plane. The thinnest feature thickness possible in the SinterStation HiQ is in the XY plane 0.13 mm, and it is 0.57 mm when manufacturing in the ZX/ZY plane. Research limitations/implications - The laser spot size and other machine parameters were not changeable, which limited the manufacturing resolution. Oblique, non-orthogonal orientations were not investigated. Originality/value - This is a first effort to investigate the manufacturing orientation effect of laser sintered polyamide optically translucent parts. The manufacturing resolutions on different planes were defined.