Innovations in 3D Printing Materials

Amelia M Davenport, Colorado Photopolymer Solutions

Abstract:3D printing continues to be one of the fastest growing and exciting markets in recent years. UV Curable (SLA and DLP) printing is seen as the high end technology choice for Additive Manufacturing because of its high resolution, strength in the Z-axis, and the ability to customize resins among other positive attributes. To make 3D printing more broadly applicable to manufacturing applications, material properties of 3D printed parts must be improved. The traditional (meth)acrylate formulations may not be able to meet these material property demands, as such resin formulators must look into other chemistries. This presentation will focus on development and evaluation of different 3D printing chemistries that may improve, among other things, tensile strength, green strength, curl and resolution. These improved properties will be compared to those achieved by traditional (meth)acrylate systems to showcase the effects of printing with different types of polymerization systems.