Shapeways

Selective Absorption Fusion (SAF) is an industrial powder bed fusion process built for high-volume, repeatable production of end-use plastic parts. Instead of a laser, SAF uses an inkjet-style print head to deposit an infrared-absorbing fluid onto a bed of polymer powder. Infrared lamps then pass over the bed, and the areas coated in fluid heat up faster than the powder around them, fusing only the material that makes up that layer's cross-section while everything else stays loose.

Because the fusing energy is delivered uniformly across the entire bed rather than traced point-by-point, SAF holds consistent thermal conditions throughout the build. That even heat distribution is what gives SAF parts their characteristically uniform mechanical properties and smooth, consistent surface finish — with less variation between parts printed in the same job, and between different jobs over time, than many other powder-based processes.