Rational Design and Characterization of Materials for Optimized Additive Manufacturing by Digital Light Processing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing technologies are developed and utilized to manufacture complex, lightweight, functional, and non-functional components with optimized material consumption. Among them, vat polymerization-based digital light processing (DLP) exploits the polymerization of photocurable resins in the layer-by-layer production of three-dimensional objects. With the rapid growth of the technology in the last few years, DLP requires a rational design framework for printing process optimization based on the specific material and printer characteristics. In this work, we investigate the curing of pure photopolymers, as well as ceramic and metal suspensions, to characterize the material properties relevant to the printing process, such as penetration depth and critical energy. Based on the theoretical framework offered by the Beer–Lambert law for absorption and on experimental results, we define a printing space that can be used to rationally design new materials and optimize the printing process using digital light processing. The proposed methodology enables printing optimization for any material and printer combination, based on simple preliminary material characterization tests to define the printing space. Also, this methodology can be generalized and applied to other vat polymerization technologies.

A Survey on Process Modelling, Innovation, Design, and Material Characterisation in Additive Manufacturing

“…The negative effect of the secondary thermal curing step can be eliminated by applying optimisation to the secondary curing cycle [99]. Similarly, an optimisation framework was designed in a digital light processing (DLP) photopolymerisation process to obtain the optimal printing parameters such as penetration depth and critical energy for a wide range of materials like polymers, ceramics, and metal suspensions [100]. There is also evidence that shows that light self-trapping during the photopolymerisation process can deliver products with high aspect ratio structures with a wide range of biological applications [101].…”

Enhanced Mechanical Properties of PUMA/SiO2 Ceramic Composites via Digital Light Processing

“…This technique has been widely applied in the AM of ceramic components [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. On the other hand, the DLP process uses a digital projector to irradiate UV light for a sectional image onto the liquid resin surface [ 25 ] and has also been utilized in the AM of various ceramic components [ 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

A Mechanical Performance Study of Dual Cured Thermoset Resin Systems 3D-Printed with Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforcement

“…However, because of their superior mechanical properties and thermal resistance, thermosets dominate the market in more industrial AM applications when using non-reinforced polymers. Processes to 3D print thermosets include stereolithography (SLA) [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], digital light processing (DLP) [ 10 , 11 ], and liquid deposition modeling (LDM) [ 1 ].…”