For the Selective Laser Sintering routing, you can specify the following process setup options:

By default, this is specified by the cost model variable slsLayerThickness (0.1mm in starting point VPEs). Users can override the default on a part-by-part basis with this setup option. See Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering.

By default, the space allowance all around nested parts is specified by the cost model variable nestingAllowance (5mm in starting point VPEs). Users can override the default nesting allowance with this setup option See Number of Parts for Laser Sintering and Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering.

With true-part-shape nesting, the cost engine uses an internal algorithm that considers multiple candidate nesting arrangements using a variety of part orientations. By default, the various orientations differ by an angle specified by the cost model variable defaultUtilizationStepAngle (90° in starting point VPEs).

With this setup option, users can specify a step angle for the cost engine to use in order to generate additional candidate orientations—smaller nesting angles result in the consideration of a greater number of candidate nesting arrangements (which increases costing time, but may result in more efficient nesting).

Note that when the user specifies a step angle, the default candidate orientations are still included for consideration.

See Number of Parts for Laser Sintering.

By default, this is the maximum number of parts that can fit in the build chamber, based on aPriori’s rectangular or true-part nesting algorithm. See Number of Parts for Laser Sintering for detailed information on the calculation of the default number of parts. Users can override the default and specify a number with this setup option.

Note that the values you can enter are bounded above by the maximum number of parts that can fit in the build chamber, assuming (as is impossible) that there is no nesting allowance and that the parts are perfectly tessellated so as to occupy the entire powder nest bed (see the formula for Nest Bed Height in Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering). In other words, the values you can enter are bounded above by the ratio of powder volume (excluding base powder) to part volume.

Note that when you override the default with this setup option, the Material Nesting diagram can no longer be displayed.

By default, this is based on the default Number of Parts for Laser Sintering. That is, by default, this is the fraction of the build chamber height that would have to be occupied by powder in order to accommodate the default number of parts.

You can override the default with this setup option. Specify a number between 0 and 1.

Powder height affects the number of part layers in the build chamber, cycle time, and material utilization.

This option controls the time to load the part model into the machine software and splice it into layers. By default, the time is specified by the cost model variable loadFileAndSpliceTime (0.25 hours in starting point VPEs). Users can override the default with this option. See the formula for Amortized Batch Setup in Setup Formula for Laser Sintering.

This option specifies the height of the powder layer that forms a buffer between the build platform and the bottom layer of parts. By default, this is specified by the site variable basePlateOffset (10mm in starting point VPEs). Users can override the default with this setup option. See Machine Feasibility for Laser Sintering, Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering, Number of Parts for Laser Sintering, and Material Cost and Utilization for Laser Sintering.

By default, the time per part to orient the part or parts on the build platform is specified by the cost model variable the cost model variable slsPrepBuildChamber (1200 seconds in starting point VPEs). Since the actual time may depend on how many parts are being built and how difficult they are to nest together, users can override the default on a part-by-part basis with this setup option. See Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering.

By default, the time per part to heat the build chamber is specified by the cost model variable slsHeatChamberTime (4140 seconds in starting point VPEs). Users can override the default on a part-by-part basis with this setup option. See Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering.

By default, the time per part to cool the build chamber after a sintering cycle is specified by the cost model variable slsCoolChamberTime (2180 seconds in starting point VPEs). Users can override the default on a part-by-part basis with this setup option. See Cycle Time Formulas for Laser Sintering.

By default, the cost model assumes that a certain fraction of thermally damaged material is recovered, recycled, and added to material inventory for later use. The default fraction is specified by the material property Recycle Percentage. Users can specify a different value with this setup option. See Material Cost and Utilization for Laser Sintering.

This setup option controls the number of cycles after which all the material in the chamber is discarded. By default, this is specified by the material property Max Powder Cycles. Users can specify a different value with this setup option.