Shrinkage compensation along single direction dexel space for improving accuracy in Selective Laser Sintering

This paper presents new approach for shrinkage compensation in selective laser sintering (SLS) process to improve the accuracy of parts produced. Shrinkage is compensated along single direction dexel space generated from the part geometry. The scaling factor used in this compensation is calculated from shrinkage model (It is the empirical relation between percentage shrinkage and the dexel length). This relation is obtained by designing and conducting experiments using Taguchi method. New shrinkage compensation method is developed to overcome non-uniform shrinkage by compensating the geometry along single direction dexel space. Software is developed to automate the compensation process. Two case studies were presented to quantify the effectiveness of the developed compensation approach over the existing compensation method. From the comparison experiments, the ability of the proposed compensation method in improving the accuracy of laser sintered parts is established.