Abstract
A sintered part‟s mechanical properties are often variable dependent on the temperature at which it was sintered. Prior research has investigated how predefined process conditions (such as scan speed and laser power) in the „Sinter ‟ software affect built parts (Majewski & Hopkinson, 2011), however, little work focuses on other process conditions that can directly affect the temperature distribution in the bed relative to these parts. These conditions are not always controllable in the „Sinter‟ software. By replacing the scanner at the top of the Sinterstation 2000 with a thermal imaging camera, an insight into the temperature distribution on the part bed was obtained. A temperature variance of up to 7°C was found across the bed, as well as a large temperature drop