Controller for a SPS machine: a proposal PI control

Abstract

Temperature control is the key to effective sintering process for metal, ceramic and polymer powders. The original control temperature provides an irregular control operation process which affects the material properties due to the spacer involved in it. Furthermore, it is analyzed how the material responds to an electrical input determining a model system with the variables implicated during the process in order to propose an efficient controller. The electrical current passed through a graphite matrix, it contains a compressed powder, so Joule effect is used for resistive heating. This article investigates how temperature control may be improved by a PI feedback controller, it was applied and simulated to the process and control gains were calculated analytically. Finally, the implemented PI controller is compared with the original model to observe the system stability, so that the operational limits are not overtaken maintaining the temperature below the reference.