Introduction to SLA 3D Printing

2023-12-13 11:13:24

It is estimated that the first material that pops up in the minds of people familiar with the 3D printing industry is photosensitive resin. Photosensitive resin is the 1 kind of 3D printing material. It is similar to ABS material, with smooth surface, high precision, surface can be painted, and hardness is also acceptable. Photosensitive resin is very suitable for printing hand plate models, such as appearance design models, and there are also special functional requirements in addition to appearance, such as high temperature resistance or higher toughness.

Photosensitive resin is formed by SLA/DLP technology. SLA is also called light curing molding. It uses ultraviolet light or other light beams to cure liquid photosensitive resin. Photosensitive resin, literally speaking, is a resin material that is sensitive to light and will quickly cure after light irradiation.

Compared with SLA, DLP printed items have a smooth surface and high molding quality, so many DLP models are positioned as jewelry level. The following describes the characteristics and applications of photosensitive resin.

Characteristics of photosensitive resin

Photosensitive resin is generally liquefied state, the use of the material to print objects generally have high strength, high temperature resistance, waterproof and so on. However, long-term non-use of the photosensitive resin material is liable to cause hardening.

The specific characteristics of photosensitive resin are the following

1. Low viscosity;

2. Small curing shrinkage;

3. Fast curing rate;

4. Small swelling;

5, high light sensitivity;

6. High degree of curing;

7. High wet strength.

In addition, the price of the photosensitive material is relatively expensive compared to the desktop-grade PLA, and at the same time, since it needs to be poured into a vessel during use, it is easy to cause a waste phenomenon.

Application of photosensitive resin

The finished product of 3D printing of photosensitive resin material has good details, high surface quality, and can be colored by painting and other processes. However, if the photosensitive resin printed items are exposed to light for a long time, they will gradually become brittle and yellow. This material is mostly used to print fine models and complex design models with high requirements for model accuracy and surface quality, such as hand boards, hand-made, jewelry or precision assemblies, etc. However, it is not suitable for printing large-size models. If large-size models need to be printed, they need to be disassembled and printed.

In addition to the above-mentioned high-toughness, high-temperature-resistant and general photosensitive resins, there are also translucent and fully transparent photosensitive resins. However, it should be reminded that translucent and fully transparent printing requires post-polishing, and the transparency will be slightly worse where it cannot be polished.

Photosensitive resin material not only has good molding effect, but also is relatively cheap, so it has become the preferred material for printing hand board. As to whether it is feasible to make a sample for appearance and function verification before the product goes on the market, this proofing fee is really very cost-effective. Compared with direct production without proofing, a large 1 of money can be saved.

But there are also many customers have such a question, photosensitive resin as a liquid material, chemical smell also has, then it is toxic?

In fact, the photosensitive resin material can not simply say that it is toxic or non-toxic, toxicity must be combined with the dose to talk about, generally after normal light curing, there is no problem. The light-curing resin is the matrix resin of the light-curing coating, which is compounded with the photoinitiator, the active diluent and various additives to form the light-curing coating. Light curing coating is the earliest example of large-scale successful application of light curing technology in industry, and it is also the largest product in the field of light curing industry, so you can rest assured that contact.

In fact, judging from the chemical materials commonly used in our life, it is not difficult to find that most polymers are non-toxic and usually used plastics. In fact, many melamine tableware, that is, plastics somewhat like porcelain, are polymelamine. Melamine should be familiar to everyone, but its polymers are non-toxic. Of course, some black workshops use poor raw materials or poor workmanship, which are indeed toxic.

Therefore, users who are worried that photosensitive resin materials are toxic and cause harm to the human body can rest assured that as long as the photosensitive resin materials you purchase are normal, in addition to the need to pay attention to ventilation and protection during the printing process, the articles after 3D printing are non-toxic and can be safely used and contacted.