NEWS


RICE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPS OPEN- SOURCE LASER SINTERING PLATFORM


Scientists from Rice University have engineered an open-source selective laser sintering (SLS) platform that costs at least 40 times less than its commercial counterparts. Bioengineering researchers at the


university modified a commercial- grade CO2


laser cutter to create the


OpenSLS platform, which can print intricate 3D objects from powdered plastics and biomaterials. As well as being less expensive than commercial systems, it allows researchers to work with their own specialised powdered materials, according to the team at Rice. The design specs and


performance of Rice’s OpenSLS platform are described in an open-access paper published in PLOS ONE. OpenSLS, which


said study co-author Jordan Miller, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice, who specialises in using 3D printing for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. ‘SLS technology is perfect for creating some of the complex shapes we use in our work, like the vascular networks of the liver and other organs.’ He said commercial SLS machines


generally don’t allow users to fabricate objects with their own powdered materials, which is something that’s particularly important for researchers who want to experiment with biomaterials for regenerative medicine and other biomedical applications. ‘Designing our own laser-sintering


was built using inexpensive open-source microcontrollers, cost less than $10,000 to build; commercial SLS platforms typically start around $400,000 and can cost up to $1 million. ‘SLS technology has been around


is perfect for creating some of the complex shapes we use in our work


SLS technology


machine means there’s no company- mandated limit to the types of biomaterials we can experiment with for regenerative medicine research,’ said study co-author Ian Kinstlinger, a graduate student in Miller’s group who


designed several of the hardware and software modifications for OpenSLS. The team showed that the machine


for more than 20 years, and it’s one of the only technologies for 3D printing that has the ability to form objects with dramatic overhangs and bifurcations,’


could print a series of intricate objects from both nylon powder – a commonly used material for high-resolution 3D sintering – and from polycaprolactone, or PCL, a non-


Researchers in the Miller Lab at Rice University’s Department of Bioengineering used a commercial-grade CO2


laser cutter to create OpenSLS, an open-source, selective laser sintering platform


toxic polymer that’s commonly used to make templates for studies on engineered bone. ‘In terms of price, OpenSLS brings


this technology within the reach of most labs, and our goal from the outset has been to do this in a way that makes it easy for other people to reproduce our work and help the field standardise on equipment and best practices,’ Kinstlinger said. Selective laser sintering builds up a


3D structure by melting layers of powdered material in a specified pattern. ‘Because the sintered object is fully supported in 3D by powder, the technique gives us access to incredibly complex architectures that


Fibre lasers reach 37 per cent global market share of industrial lasers


Fibre lasers have continued to gain market share as an industrial tool, reaching 37 per cent of the global laser market for materials processing, up from 30 per cent in 2014. The data is from a new report from Optech Consulting. The global laser market for


materials processing grew two per cent in 2015 to $3.2 billion (€2.9 billion), according to the study, while fibre laser sales accounted for $1.16 billion. The growth in fibre lasers has


8


been explosive; only 10 years earlier, in 2005, the market share of fibre lasers in materials processing was just four per cent. Other solid-state lasers


accounted for a 26 per cent share of the market in 2015. This includes diode-pumped solid-state lasers of various wavelengths, ultrafast solid-state lasers, disk lasers, flashlamp- pumped lasers, as well as direct-diode lasers. The gas laser segment,


accounting for a 37 per cent LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE ISSUE 31 • SUMMER 2016


share, comprises excimer lasers and CO2


lasers – CO2 lasers have


been a major target for replacement by fibre lasers. However, this situation is expected to change, according to Optech Consulting. While high power CO2


lasers in cutting and


welding have already been replaced to a large extent by fibre lasers, low power CO2


lasers are


not an easy target for replacement, the market research firm concluded. CO2


lasers are also preferred


in EUV microlithography because of the wavelength they operate at. Consequently, fibre laser manufacturers are now focusing their efforts more on competing with solid-state and diode lasers, Optech Consulting believes. Fibre laser manufacturers are


also targeting new applications such as additive manufacturing, besides pushing sales in cutting and marking by lower laser prices. Fibre laser manufacturer IPG Photonics posted revenues of $207.2 million in the first quarter


of 2016, an increase of four per cent year-over-year. For 2016, Optech Consulting


expects a sideward trending global market for industrial lasers. The expectation follows the presently available data indicating a subdued trend of the laser systems market at the beginning of the year, combined with weakening demand in China. A report from


MarketsandMarkets estimates the laser processing market will


reach $9.75 billion by 2022. @lasersystemsmag | www.lasersystemseurope.com


other 3D printing techniques simply cannot produce,’ Miller said. Miller added: ‘Our work


demonstrates that OpenSLS provides the scientific community with an accessible platform for the study of laser sintering and the fabrication of complex geometries in diverse plastics and biomaterials. And it’s another win for the open-source community.’ The research was funded by Rice


University. Study co-authors include Samantha Paulsen, Daniel Hwang, Anderson Ta and David Yalacki, all from Rice; and Tim Schmidt of the Lansing Makers Network in Lansing, Michigan.


Jeff Fitlow/Rice University


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