Stereolithography (SL) is an additive manufacturing process in which liquid photopolymer resin is cross-linked and converted to solid with a UV laser light source. Traditional models of SL processes do not consider the complex chemical reactions and species transport occurring during photopolymerization and, hence, are incapable of accurately predicting resin curing behavior. In this paper, a 2D photopolymerization model based on ordinary differential equations is presented that incorporates the effects of oxygen inhibition and diffusion during the polymerization process. This model accurately predicts the cured part height when compared to experiments conducted on a mask based stereolithgraphy system. The simulated results also show the characteristic edge curvature as seen in experiments. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the possibilities to improve the accuracy of the model for predicting the edge curvature.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.