What are the advantages of stereolithography?

What are the advantages of stereolithography?

Stereolithography provides advantages in speed, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and precision. These advantages make stereolithography for medical device design, among many other industries, a vital process for creating models and prototypes that help refine and prove designs.

What is the process of stereolithography?

Stereolithography – more commonly referred to as SLA 3D printing – is one of the most popular and widespread techniques in the world of additive manufacturing. It works by using a high-powered laser to harden liquid resin that is contained in a reservoir to create the desired 3D shape.

What is the difference between stereolithography and 3D printing?

SLA, or stereolithography, is a method of 3D printing that utilizes a laser and resin. Unlike digital light projection (DLP), which uses a projector screen, SLA is distinguished by the use of a single laser directed at particular points to cure the resin and solidify a pattern.

What are disadvantages of stereolithography?

Limitations of stereolithography

• Fragility: stereolithography uses equivalent materials which are resins.
• Expensive machines: if we had predicted the boom in 3D printing in the past few years, experts have neglected the cost of the machines and the difficulty of their operation.

What materials are used in stereolithography?

Materials

• Standard resins, for general prototyping.
• Engineering resins, for specific mechanical and thermal properties.
• Dental and medical resins, for biocompatibility certifications.
• Castable resins, for zero ash-content after burnout.

What is the working principle of stereolithography?

The basic principle of Stereolithography is the selective curing of a photopolymer (a resin) using a UV laser. A thin layer of liquid resin (generally 50-100 microns deep) is prepared in the machine’s building space. The Laser draws a pattern on that layer curing only the shape desired in the first layer of the model.

Who invented stereolithography?

Chuck Hull
Chuck Hull is recognized as the inventor of the solid imaging process known as stereolithography, the first commercial 3D printing technology. With the founding of 3D Systems in 1986, he initiated the 3D printing industry and continues to lead it today as 3D Systems’ Chief Technology Officer.

What’s the difference between SLA and SLS?

SLA works with polymers and resins, not metals. SLS works with a few polymers, such as nylon and polystyrene, but can also handle metals like steel, titanium, and others. SLA works with liquids, while SLS uses powders that raise safety concerns. Breathing in fine particulates of nickel, for example, can be harmful.

What is the resin used in stereolithography?

Stereolithography is an additive manufacturing process that, in its most common form, works by focusing an ultraviolet (UV) laser on to a vat of photopolymer resin.

What material is used in SLS?

SLS 3D Printing Materials The most common material for selective laser sintering is nylon, a highly capable engineering thermoplastic for both functional prototyping and end-use production. Nylon is ideal for complex assemblies and durable parts with high environmental stability.