Laser-high-speed-DSC: Process-oriented thermal analysis of PA 12 in selective laser sintering

In the Selective Laser Sintering process very high heating rates occur due to the melting of the material by a laser. Extreme scanning rates could not be measured by conventional thermal analysis methods, since typical heating rates for DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) are between 5-20K min-1. By using a Laser-High-Speed-DSC, a self-developed combination of a Flash-DSC and a fitted laser head, the sample is directly heated by a CO2 laser like in the SLS process. These experiments allow a process-oriented thermal analyzation of the material. In this paper, the set-up and function of this new measuring method is introduced. Furthermore, the reliability of the measurements is evaluated by statistical design of experiment methods. By using this new measuring method, the time-dependent melting behavior of the polymer can be analyzed. Moreover, sample temperatures and heating rates dependent on laser exposure times can be quantified.