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Rapid Prototyping with Stereolithography
The process
Stereolithography (SLA) is a Rapid Prototyping technique, which in an early phase of the development process can produce physical models from a 3D-CAD drawing. Within this process a liquid resin is cured by means of using a laser beam. This beam produces UV-light, which is responsible for the curing process. Using special CAD/CAM software we split the 3D-CAD model into several layers (slices), which will be cured in the machine.
After curing a layer the machine platform drops a distance equal to the layer thickness. Consequently a new layer of liquid resin will be coated and cured on the already cured layers. Likewise the entire product will be built
The advantages- Shortens the "Time-to-Market" of new products
- Models are also suitable to be used as master patterns for investment casting and vacuum casting
- Outstanding price/quality relation
- Identification of design errors and implementation of necessary or desired changes can be done in an early phase of the development process
- Rapid Prototyping models available in different materials with properties like polypropylene for instance
- Ideal to produce good looking models with an amazing surface smoothness
- Very accurate models with outstanding functional properties (e.g. snap fits, hinges)
Specifications| Build envelope | : | 250 × 250 × 250 mm
Larger parts can be built from several parts by means of glueing | | Accuracy | : | +/- 0,1 mm | | Layer thickness | : | Standaard 0,1 mm | | Wall thickness | : | Minimal 0,2 mm, depends on product geometry |
Material Specifications StereolithographySL 5240
SL 5240 is a new resin specially developed to improve the functional aspects (snap fits for instance) of prototypes. This resin offers outstanding possibilities to combine strength, accuracy, flexibility and surface smoothness. The manufactured prototypes are not just suitable for visual analysis anymore but also very useful for functional testing. If we compare the mechanical properties of this resin with those of thermoplastics, we can conclude that SL 5240 is similar to PP (polypropylene).
| Tensile strength (MPa) | 36-38 | | Tensile modulus (MPa) | 1565-1689 | | Elongation at break | 22-26% | | Flexural strength (MPa) | 54-57 | | Flexural modulus (MPa) | 1441-1510 | | Izod impact strength (J/m) | 43-53 | | Hardness (Shore D) | 84 (D) | | Density (g/cm³) | 1,19 |
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Rapid Prototyping 
