A Review of Thermal Analysis Methods in Laser Sintering and Selective Laser Melting

Thermal analysis of laser processes can be used to predict thermal stresses and microstructures during processing and in a completed part. Thermal analysis is also the basis for feedback control of laser processing parameters in manufacturing. A comprehensive literature review of thermal analysis methods utilized in Laser Sintering (LS) has been undertaken. In many studies, experimental methods were commonly used to detect and validate thermal behavior during processing. Coupling of thermal experiments and FEM analyses were utilized in many of the latter studies. Analytical solutions were often derived from the Rosenthal solution and other established theories. In recent years, some temperature measuring systems have been implemented to validate the simulation results. The main characteristics of LS temperature distribution and effects of process parameters to temperature are also summarized and shown by a case study.