SLM 3D Printing

What is SLM 3D Printing? SLM (Selective Laser Melting) is the world's most advanced metal additive manufacturing technology. A high-power fiber laser (up to 1000W+) fully melts metal powder — not sinters, not fuses — completely liquefies it, layer by layer, inside an inert gas chamber (argon/nitrogen, O₂ < 0.05%), building near-net-shape metal parts with >99% density and mechanical properties matching or exceeding wrought metals. At HY-HK, our core SLM technology delivers ±0.03–0.05mm accuracy, builds from stainless steel, titanium alloy, aluminum, Inconel, cobalt chrome, and tungsten alloy — and because it's under the HY-HK roof, every SLM-printed part can be seamlessly passed to our PVD coating line, CNC trimming station, or HIP furnace — one factory, one quality system, zero handoff.

Technical Principle

How It Works — 6 Steps, From STL to Solid Metal:

① 3D CAD Design: Your part is designed in SolidWorks / UG / CATIA — every curve, every internal channel, every lattice defined digitally.

② Slicing: The CAD model is sliced into 20–100μm thin layers by specialized software, generating an STL file with laser scan paths for each layer.

③ Chamber Preparation: The build chamber is filled with argon gas (O₂ < 0.05%) to prevent oxidation. A thin layer of metal powder (20–60μm) is spread evenly across the build platform by a recoater blade.

④ Laser Melting: A high-power fiber laser (spot size ~50μm, scan speed up to 15 m/s) selectively scans the powder bed, fully melting the metal particles according to the layer profile — not sintering, but complete liquefaction into a dense melt pool.

⑤ Layer Stacking: The build platform lowers by one layer thickness (20–100μm). A new powder layer is spread. The laser melts and fuses it to the previous layer. This repeats thousands of times until the part is complete.

⑥ Post-Processing: Parts are removed from the powder bed → support structures cut off → HIP (Hot Isostatic Pressing) to eliminate internal porosity → heat treatment → CNC trimming → PVD coating (if needed) → inspection.