3D Systems SPro User manual

SLS process

user’s guide

Thank-you for purchasing 3D Systems® SLS® equipment and

DuraForm® materials. Before you start building parts in your

SLS™ process facility, please read this guide carefully to

enjoy optimum process performance and longer equipment

service life.

CONTENTS

Document 23348-M12-00 Revision BAugust 2017

3D Systems, the 3D logo, Sinterstation, sPro, SLS, and DuraForm are registered trademarks of 3D

Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

LIn accordance with laboratory equipment safety standards (EN61010-1, Sect. 5.4.4). If this equipment is used

in a manner not specified by the manufacturer, protection provided by the equipment may be impaired.

Observe all warning labels, and conform to all safety rules described in this manual.

™

Contents

`About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

`Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

`SLS Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

`Prepare to Build . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

`Build Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

`Break Out Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

`RCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

`IRS & IPC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

`SLS System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

`BOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

`Contacting 3D Systems . . . . . . . . . 242

`Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

`Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Original Instructions

SLS process

user’s guide

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

This guide describes how to create finished SLS parts made of DuraForm® PAplastic

powder laser sintering (LS) material using 3D Systems’ sPro SLS® system and

SLS equipment.

`What’s Inside?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

`Hazard Warnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

`Instruction Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

`Other Useful Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

SLS process 3 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

user’s guide what’s inside?

What’s Inside?

This SLS Process User’s Guide includes the

sections summarized below. General safety

guidelines are presented first. The rest of the

Guide is organized in two parts. The first part

covers SLS process procedures and the second

covers SLS equipment.

At the end of this guide, you will also find a

Glossary of SLS process terms and an Index. Click

on any red TLA (three-letter acronym) or

SLS process term in this section to display a

definition.

Safety Guidelines and Instructions

The Safety section tells you what you need to

know to avoid injury or equipment damage. Read

this section before you switch on power to any

SLS equipment or handle DuraForm material.

LTo verify that your facility was properly

prepared for SLS system installation, see the

sPro SLS Process Facility Guide and SLS Process

Facility Layout. For detailed material safety

information, see the DuraForm Material Safety

Data Sheets (MSDS’s). Printed copies of these

documents were included in your SLS powder

material shipment. You can also download

MSDS’s for SLS materials

from3D Systems’ website. (See Other Useful

Documents on page 7.)

SLS Process Procedures

The instructions in these four sections step you

through the SLS process in a general way. When

necessary, they refer you to detailed machine

operating and maintenance instructions in the

equipment section of this guide.

SLS Process - overview of the SLS process from

powder to parts.

Build Preparation - how to prepare 3-D parts for

building using the SLS system’s Build Setup

software; how to clean, power-up, and start-up

SLS equipment, and perform pre-build checks.

LA “build” is a 3-D printout of a build packet

containing STL files of one or more 3-D parts.

You create build packets in the Build Setup

application. See your Build Setup online Help

for detailed build packet setup instructions.

Build Parts – how to run builds on the SLS

system, and how to monitor, control, and modify

a build in progress.

LYou use the Sinter application to run a build.

See your Sinter application online Help for

detailed build instructions.

SLS process 4 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

user’s guide what’s inside?

Breakout Parts – how to remove and cool down

the part cake after a build, then use the BOS to

remove parts from the part cake. This section also

describes how to recycle or dispose of used part

cake powder.

SLS Equipment

This second half of the User’s Guide provides

detailed instructions for the functions you need

to perform on SLS equipment during SLS process

procedures. The process instructions in the first

part of the guide frequently reference equipment

instructions these sections.

SLS Equipment - overview of SLS equipment

featuresand functions. This section includes

illustrations that help you locate SLS equipment

components and controls and convenient menu

maps for the IRS and BOS operator panel

displays.

The four sections after the equipment overview

contain complete safety, operation,

maintenance, and troubleshooting instructions

for each SLS process machine. They focus on the

following:

IRS and IPC - loading powder from the IPC to the

IRS and transferring powder between the IRS,

SLS system, and BOS.

SLS® system - preparing for, and running builds

using the Sinter application and utilities, and

maintaining the SLS system between builds.

BOS - breaking parts out of the part cake and

managing waste and recycled part cake powder.

SLS process 5 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

user’s guide hazard warnings

Hazard Warnings

You will find nine different types of warnings in

this guide. Always heed these warnings. Ignoring

them can expose you and your SLS equipment to

the hazards listed below.

LSee the Safety section for descriptions of safety

labels on your SLS equipment.

WARNING TYPE HAZARD

Safety Alert Machine damage, part damage, and/or data loss.

Electric shock Injury or death from electric shock.

Hot surface Burn injury or fire on hot non-handling surface. Allow surface to

cool before touching.

Hot surface - touch Burn injury or fire on hot handling surface. Allow surface to cool

before touching.

Laser radiation Eye injury or blindness; burn injury; fire.

Crush Injury or death from crushing weight.

Impeller Injury or death from rotating blade or impeller.

Notched belt

entanglement Injury or death from entanglement in notched pulley drive belt.

Air-pressurized

powder

Eye injury or blindness; dust-cloud ignition from escaping

pressurized powder.

SLS process 6 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

user’s guide instruction formats

Instruction Formats

Instructions in this guide use special text formats

to highlight menu commands, keys on the

keyboard, operator panel buttons, and text on

the operator panel display.

Text on Computer Display

Text in LS software menus and windows you

need to find or act on is in bold; for example:

“Open the Machine menu and select Manual

Operations > Inerting.”

“Click the Build button on the main toolbar.

Text you enter in LS software programs is

underlined in typewriter font; for example

In the Heater Control window, enter 130.0

for the temperature Setpoint (°C).”

Keys

Keyboard key names are capitalized; for example:

“Press the Enter key.”

Labeled Controls and Indicators

Labeled switches, buttons, lights, and gauges are

in bold, uppercase text; for example:

“Turn the BOS POWDER TRANSPORT switch

to RECYCLE.”

Operator Panel Buttons

The icons represent operator panel

buttons on the IRS and BOS. The buttons

perform these functions:

Scroll menu options up/down; increase/

decrease/change parameter values.

Select option/accept change; similar to

Enter key on keyboard or YES or OK

dialog button.

Cancel/reject change/exit up one menu

level; similar to Esc key on keyboard or

NO, Cancel, or Exit dialog button.

Operator Panel Display Text

Text displayed on the IRS or BOS operator

panel appears in green text; for example:

From the Process Params menu, choose

RCM Type, then press .

SLS process 7 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

user’s guide other useful documents

Other Useful Documents

The documents listed below will help you get the

most out of your SLS process and equipment. You

can find them in the ..dtm\docs folder of your LS

software installation hard drive (...except for Build

Setup Help and Sinter Help. You access these

through the Build Setup and Sinter applications).

`SLS Process Facility Guide – details SLS

process requirements for facility electrical

power, room construction and atmosphere,

compressed air, nitrogen, coolant, powder,

and network. It also provides SLS equipment

specifications, shipping and information, and

moving instructions. (This guide was sent to

you before installation. A pdf copy is included

in the ..dtm\docs folder for reference.)

`SLS Process Facility Layout – illustrates SLS

process requirements for facility electrical

power, room atmosphere, compressed air,

nitrogen, and coolant. It also shows

equipment dimensions and a recommended

arrangement for your SLS equipment. (This

layout was sent to you before installation. A

pdf copy is included in the ..dtm\docs folder

for reference.)

`Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS’s) –

online copies of the printed MSDS’s that ship

with DuraForm materials. Make sure

everyone in your facility who handles

DuraForm materials reads these MSDS’s and

follows the safety guidelines in them. To

order extra printed copies of these MSDS’s,

contact 3D Systems Customer Support.

`Build Setup Help – provides detailed

instructions on how to use the Build Setup

application to create and modify build

packets you can run on the SLS system. To

view Build Setup Help, run the Build Setup

program, then select Help > Help on Build

Setup ... from the main window menu bar.

For help on the currently selected Build Setup

command or window, press function key F1.

LYou can also run Build Setup from the

Sinter Application by clicking the Setup

toolbar button.

SLS process 8 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

user’s guide other useful documents

`Sinter Help – provides detailed instructions

on how to use the Sinter application to run

and manage builds on the SLS system. To

view Sinter Help, run Sinter, then select

Help > Online Help from the main window

menu bar. For help on the currently selected

Sinter command or window, press function

key F1.

`Material Guides – give you the material,

machine, and software configuration

information you need to build good parts

with the SLS process. Each Material Guide

describes SLS processing characteristics for

one family of 3D Systems’ DuraForm powder

materials, such as DuraForm PA. They also

include safety and regulatory guidelines for

DuraForm material handling.

SLS process

user’s guide

SAFETY

This section gives the information you need to use 3D Systems’ SLS equipment and

DuraForm LS materials safely. It includes the following topics:

`General Safety Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

`SLS Equipment Safety Features . . . . . . . . . 12

`Safety Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

`Electrical Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

`Environmental Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

`Laser Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

`Powder Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

`Nitrogen/Oxygen Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

`Mechanical Motion Hazard Locations . . . 34

`Hot Surfaces and Powders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

`DuraForm Material Handling Safety . . . . . 36

`IPC Handling Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

`Shutdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

`Emergency Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Before using any SLS equipment, your company should have a safety program in place. The

safety program should do the following:

✓Label and point out hazardous equipment,

materials, and procedures.

✓Explain what to do in an emergency

situation.

✓Provide information about the hazards of

equipment and materials in the form of

Material Safety Data Sheets. These are

provided with all materials supplied by

3D Systems.

SLS process 10 SAFETY

user’s guide general safety guidelines

General Safety Guidelines

All SLS equipment is designed with safety in

mind. However, improper use, malfunctions, and

excessive exposure could cause injury.

Follow these general safety guidelines when

operating any SLS equipment:

Training and Instructions

`Do not operate any SLS equipment before

receiving proper training.

`Read and follow all operating instructions.

`Follow all safety rules in this section and heed

all hazard warnings in this guide.

`Do not try to do any equipment maintenance

procedures you were not trained to do.

•Operators are trained to operate the

system and perform all the necessary tasks

to print a part.

•Certified service personnel are those

who have completed the 3D Systems

service training package and are certified

to perform service tasks. Certification may

occur at various levels, and servicers

should only perform tasks they are

authorized and certified to complete.

Machine Handling

`Do not try to access, service, or adjust any

components inside any SLS equipment

enclosure.

`Do not try to open any panel or door while a

machine is running.

`Do not access any area of the machine near

the process chamber high-temperature-

material builds.

`Use special caution when handling a heated

RCM and when dealing with the heated, inert

environment inside the SLS system’s process

chamber. Take note of all thermal hazard

warning labels on the machines.

`Always disconnect the RCM cable before

moving the RCM out of the SLS system or

BOS.

`To prevent crush injuries to the body, use

extra caution when rolling the RCM into and

out of the SLS system and BOS, and when

closing the BOS overhead door. Take note of

all crush hazard warning labels on the

machines.

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