Fabrication and control of a microheater array for Microheater Array Powder Sintering

Microheater Array Powder Sintering (MAPS) is a novel additive manufacturing process that uses a microheater array to replace the laser of selective laser sintering as the energy source. Most of the previous research on microheaters is for applications in gas sensing or inkjet printing. The operation temperature and response time of the microheater array are critical for the choice of sintering materials and printing speed for the MAPS process. This paper presents the fabrication, packaging, and control of a platinum microheater array that has a target operation temperature of 400 °C and a response time of ~ 1 ms for the MAPS process. First, the fabrication process of a microheater array is presented. The fabricated microheater array was packaged for easy control and to serve as the printhead of the MAPS process. A proportional-integral-derivative controller was designed to control the temperature response of the microheater. Finally, the effectiveness of the controller was evaluated. Results show the fabricated microheater array is capable of reaching the target temperature of 400 °C and has a thermal response time of less than 1 ms, which satisfies the design requirements for the MAPS process.