Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate the selection of materials for the selective laser sintering (SLS) process, which is used for low-volume production in the engineering (e.g. light weight machines, architectural modelling, high performance application, manufacturing of fuel cell, etc.), medical and many others (e.g. art and hobbies, etc.) with a keen focus on meeting customer requirements. Design/methodology/approach – The work starts with understanding the optimal process parameters, an appropriate consolidation mechanism to control microstructure, and selection of appropriate materials satisfying the property requirement for specific application area that leads to optimization of materials. Findings – Fabricating the parts using optimal process parameters, appropriate consolidation mechanism and selecting the appropriate material considering the property requirement of applications can improve part characteristics, increase acceptability, sustainability, life cycle and reliability of the SLS-fabricated parts. Originality/value – The newly proposed material selection system based on properties requirement of applications has been proven, especially in cases where non-experts or student need to select SLS process materials according to the property requirement of applications. The selection of materials based on property requirement of application may be used by practitioners from not only the engineering field, medical field and many others like art and hobbies but also academics who wish to select materials of SLS process for different applications.

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Purpose -The purpose of the present work is to develop a methodology for making physical models of catchment areas and terrains by rapid prototyping (RP) using geographic information systems (GIS) data. It is also intended to reduce data loss by minimising intermediate data translations. Design/methodology/approach -The GIS data of a catchment area or a terrain were directly translated to an stereo lithography (STL) file. The STL surface was then manipulated in Magics-RP to obtain a solid STL part, which can then be downloaded to a RP machine to obtain a physical model or representation of a terrain or catchtment area. Findings -Intricate geometries of landforms were created with ease and great accuracy in RP machines. Terrain models were created in less time and lower cost than with conventional methods. Research limitations/implications -DEM ASCII XYZ (digital elevation model) data were used to input the required GIS data of specific terrains. Software can be developed for translation and manipulation of DEM, STL and other relevant file formats. This will eliminate any data loss associated with intermediate file transfer. Practical implications -Terrain models were created with ease and great accuracy in RP machines. It takes less time and can be done more costeffectively. Terrain models have intricate geometries and for complex models, it may take months to make using conventional methods. Originality/value -STL surfaces were obtained directly from GIS data for terrain modeling. This work fulfils the need of terrain modeling for catchment management, town-planning, road-transport planning, architecture, military applications, geological education, etc.

Duralumin is an alloy of aluminium which has some unique properties such as high strength to weight ratio, high resistance to corrosion, light in weight, and more demanding alloy in various sectors such as space craft, marine, chemical industries, construction and automobile. These applications require very precise and complex shapes which may not be obtained with conventional machining. Pulsed Nd:YAG laser cutting may be used to fulfill these objectives by using optimum setting of process parameters. The present research paper has experimentally investigated the modeling and optimization of heat affected zone in the pulsed Nd:YAG laser cutting of Duralumin sheet with the aim to minimize heat affected zone. The quality is improved by the proper control of different process parameters such as gas pressure, pulse width, pulse frequency and scanning speed. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have been used to solve the many engineering problems successfully through development of Genetic Algorithm (GA), Fuzzy Logic (FL) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) systems. The optimization of heat affected zone has been carried out by using Hybrid Approach of Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) and GA. In this methodology, the second order regression model has been developed by using MRA with the help of experimental data obtained by L 27 orthogonal array (OA). Further this equation has been used as objective function in GA based optimization. The significant factors have been found with further discussion of their effect on the heat affected zone.

Additive manufacturing technology is used to make physical models of terrain using GIS surface data. Attempts have been made to understand several other GIS file formats, such as the Surfer grid and the ARC/INFO ASCII grid. The surface of the terrain in these file formats has been converted into an STL file format that is suitable for additive manufacturing. The STL surface is converted into a 3D model by making the walls and the base. In this paper, the terrain modelling work has been extended to several other widelyused GIS file formats. Terrain models can be created in less time and at less cost, and intricate geometries of terrain can be created with ease and great accuracy.

Purpose -This paper aims to convert surface data directly to a three-dimensional (3D) stereolithography (STL) part. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data available for a terrain are the data of its surface. It doesn't have information for a solid model. The data need to be converted into a three-dimensional (3D) solid model for making physical models by additive manufacturing (AM). Design/methodology/approach -A methodology has been developed to make the wall and base of the part and tessellates the part with triangles. A program has been written which gives output of the part in STL file format. The elevation data are interpolated and any singularity present is removed. Extensive search techniques are used. Findings -AM technologies are increasingly being used for terrain modeling. However, there is not enough work done to convert the surface data into 3D solid model. The present work aids in this area. Practical implications -The methodology removes data loss associated with intermediate file formats. Terrain models can be created in less time and less cost. Intricate geometries of terrain can be created with ease and great accuracy. Social implications -The terrain models can be used for GIS education, educating the community for catchment management, conservation management, etc. Originality/value -The work allows direct and automated conversion of GIS surface data into a 3D STL part. It removes intermediate steps and any data loss associated with intermediate file formats.

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