Abstract
Selective Laser Melting is an additive manufacturing method developed to produce 3-D parts with metallic materials. In recent years, research work on SLM processing of ceramic and composite materials is gaining attention. In this paper, 1-D and 2-D processing of silica (SiO2) using SLM is investigated. These efforts pave way for the 3-D processing of silica with SLM. The experimental results show that laser melting of silica with fibre laser (lambda = 1.06 m) is feasible and thin silica plates can be produced by carefully adjusting the laser power, scanning speed and hatch spacing of the SLM process.