Title: The heat element status assignment algorithms for the selective inhibition of sintering process array-based heating system

Authors: Bahram Asiabanpour, Chandrashekar Subbareddy, Sravan Kolichala, Lane VanWagner

Addresses: Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA. ' Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA. ' Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA. ' Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA

Abstract: To minimise polymer and energy waste in the SIS process, a new adjustable heater system is designed. In this heater, many small heat elements are installed in the form of an array. Each heat element, independent of other heat elements, can be in an ON or OFF status. The heat element status assignment enables the heater to sinter polymer powders solely in the necessary areas. In this paper, the array-based mechanism and the algorithms that generate heat elements status by using the CAD file are explained. Results of this research show an effective method to save energy and material.

Keywords: selective inhibition sintering; SIS; path generation algorithm; rapid prototyping; programmable heater; waste reduction; heat element status; CAD; polymer powders; energy reduction; heating element array.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2008.020335

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2008 Vol.32 No.2, pp.104 - 109

Published online: 18 Sep 2008 *

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