A new heater design by radiation modeling and a new polymer waste‐saving mechanism design for the SIS process

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a heating system for the selective inhibition sintering (SIS) process that will produce uniform heat and minimize the polymer powder waste.

Design/methodology/approach

This research was conducted in two areas: the first was the production of uniform heat distribution. For this task, a lighting design software was used for the initial heater design. The result was then validated by thermal images, point‐by‐point temperature measurement, and physical part fabrication. The second area was the minimization of polymer powder waste. For this task, a finger‐based masking mechanism was designed, prototyped, and tested.

Findings

The lighting design software output illustrates that the square, crossed, and parallel patterns have very low variation and seem to be acceptable alternatives for the heating system pattern. Also, results show that the temperature variation for the ceramic heater is lower (therefore better) than the wire heater. Also, the study reveals that a finger‐based masking system design and prototype is very promising from the polymer powder waste‐saving standpoint.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to the software limitation, radiation is the only source of heat transfer in this research (convection and conduction were not considered). Also, a limited number of patterns were examined for the heater design; this number can be expanded in future research.

Originality/value

A new design and development method has been proposed for the heating system for the SIS process that could lead to better heaters and waste‐reducing mechanisms for the SIS process and similar applications.

Citation

Asiabanpour, B., Cano, R., Subbareddy, C., Wasik, F., VanWagner, L. and McCormick, T. (2007), "A new heater design by radiation modeling and a new polymer waste‐saving mechanism design for the SIS process", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 136-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552540710750889