Overview
ISO/ASTM 52911-2:2019 - "Additive manufacturing - Design - Part 2: Laser‑based powder bed fusion of polymers" provides design guidance and a state‑of‑the‑art review for laser‑based powder bed fusion of polymers (LB‑PBF/P). Published as a joint ISO/ASTM standard (2019, first edition), it specifies process features and detailed design recommendations to help engineers exploit LB‑PBF/P while accounting for process‑specific limitations. The standard extends the general AM design guidance in ISO/ASTM 52910 and references ISO/ASTM 52900 for vocabulary and fundamentals.
Key topics and technical requirements
The standard organizes practical guidance across general PBF features and LB‑PBF/P‑specific design issues. Major topics include:
- Process characteristics: part size, benefits and limitations of powder bed fusion (PBF), economic and time efficiency considerations.
- Feature constraints: treatment of islands, overhangs, and the stair‑step effect; implications for manufacturable geometry.
- Dimensional and geometrical accuracy: guidance on achievable form, fit and positional tolerances, and data representation (STL/AMF/3MF).
- Material and structural characteristics: behavior of polymer powders, anisotropy of printed parts and structural implications.
- Build planning: build orientation, powder coating, part placement, oversintering risks and efficient packing strategies.
- Surface quality and post‑processing: surface roughness metrics (Ra, Rz), finishing options and their effect on function.
- Design rules: wall thickness, powder removal, warpage reduction, holes and channels, lattice structures, fluid channels, springs, connectors, joints, assemblies, bearings, and integrated markings.
- Practical examples: applied case studies such as functional assemblies and grippers to illustrate recommended practices.
The document combines normative guidance with informative recommendations to help designers make tradeoffs among performance, manufacturability and cost.
Applications and practical value
ISO/ASTM 52911-2 is directly applicable to:
- Design and production engineers specifying polymer AM parts for functional use
- Additive manufacturing practitioners choosing LB‑PBF/P for prototypes, tooling or end‑use components
- Quality engineers and validation teams assessing manufacturability and tolerances
- R&D teams developing polymer powder processes, lattices and integrated mechanisms
Using this standard helps reduce trial‑and‑error, avoid common failure modes (e.g., warpage, oversintering), optimize orientation and packing, and accelerate time‑to‑market for polymer PBF parts.
Related standards
- ISO/ASTM 52910 - Design for additive manufacturing: general recommendations
- ISO/ASTM 52900 - Additive manufacturing - Fundamentals and vocabulary
- Other parts of the ISO 52911 series (e.g., LB‑PBF of metals, EB‑PBF)
Keywords: ISO/ASTM 52911-2, LB‑PBF/P, laser‑based powder bed fusion of polymers, additive manufacturing design guidelines, powder bed fusion (PBF).
Open preview (PDF)Additive manufacturing — Design — Part 2: Laser-based powder bed fusion of polymers
