  Selective laser sintering (SLS) of single component metal powders is a rapid
prototyping technology in which a high-energy laser beam scans, melts, shrinks
and consolidates metal powders with single component. For better understanding
physical mechanisms during laser sintering of single-component metal particles,
a temperature transforming model with the consideration of shrinkage and
convective flows is introduced to analyze the thermal/fluid behaviors in
selective laser sintering of single powder layer. The model is also applied to
investigate the sintering of powders on top of existing sintered layers under
single- multiple-line scanning manners according to the practical manufacturing
processes.
