Position based laser power (PBLP) control for selective laser sintering (SLS)

This thesis investigates a method for designing, implementing, and testing a Position Based Laser Power (PBLP) controller for a Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) machine. Current commercial laser scanning systems do not allow for variable laser power control along the length of a scan line. As found in previous work, varying the power across a scan line is important to achieving a uniform post-sintering temperature in the presence of a temperature gradient across the build surface (Phillips, 2016). By implementing a PBLP control system, the laser power can be varied across the length of a scan line to correct for variation in pre-sintering temperatures, leading to constant post-sintering temperatures and improved part quality and consistency.Mechanical Engineerin