Laser Melting: What Is It?

laser melting
Image courtesy of Airbus

Laser melting is an additive manufacturing method that uses a laser to heat a material into a fully melted liquid form. This is essentially the same process used in laser sintering with a few technical differences. Laser sintering uses heat to compact material into a solid form but does not liquefy it. Finished products also differ with laser melted objects offering different properties in terms of crystal structure and porosity.