Stereolithography Resin

The geometry and fine tolerances of this intricately shaped polymer part are beyond those obtainable by the use of traditional polymer manufacturing techniques like injection moulding. Instead, a novel stereolithographic technique was used, and constitutes a type of 3D printing. This involves a Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawing of the desired part being produced in a virtual environment, then electronically sectioned into thin layers (typically less than a quarter of a millimetre) and then sent to the printing device that additively constructs the object layer by layer.

In the case of this object, a small diameter ultraviolet (UV) laser scans across a bed of liquid resin, curing and thus turning hard the area where the light touches, creating a single layer of the final part. A new layer of resin is then swept across the first and the UV laser applied, forming the next layer and binding it to the previous one. This continues until the full 3D form has been rendered physical. A major advantage of this technique, of which similar varieties exist for powders of metals and ceramics, is that bespoke one-off parts can be generated relatively quickly without the need for expensive infrastructures of production. This also means that prototype parts can be built rapidly and cost effectively.