SLS nylon 3D printing design check
SLS fuses nylon powder with a laser, and the part is supported by the surrounding powder, so no support structures are needed. The limits are different: powder must be able to leave, thick sections and large flat faces warp, and the way parts are packed in the build changes quality. These are the limits a check looks at.
The limits that matter
| What | Typical limit used here | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Wall | at least 0.8 mm | thinner walls break during cleaning or do not form |
| Powder escape hole | at least 5 mm in a hollow part (working assumption) | powder stays inside and adds mass |
| Thickest section | about 30 mm (working assumption) | thick sections cool slowly and shrink unevenly |
| Large flat face | over about 40 cm² is flagged (working assumption) | wide flat faces tend to warp |
| Nesting density | about 12 % of the build volume as a target (working assumption) | tightly and loosely packed builds give different quality |
How to fix the common problems
- Hollow thick sections and add powder escape holes, or add ribs instead of mass.
- Break up large flat faces with ribs or a slight curve.
- Keep the cross-section even over height when many parts are built together. In one of our case studies a better build layout lowered the spread of sintered area over height from 53 % to 25 %.
What Dokimion checks for SLS
The check measures walls and thick sections, finds closed cavities that trap powder, flags large flat faces and estimates how a part fits in the build. It ends with a score from A to E (see the Kolesar Score) and a cost estimate per part for PA12.
Limits depend on the machine, powder aging and build layout. Treat them as typical values.
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