Eight Kinds of 3D Printing Technologies Introduction and Working Principles
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) melts nylon-based powder into solid plastic. Since SLS parts are made of thermoplastic materials, they are durable, suitable for functional testing, and can support living hinges and snaps. Compared with SL, the parts are more robust, but the surface finish is rougher. SLS does not require support structures, so multiple parts can be nested into a single build using the entire build platform - making it suitable for a higher number of parts than other 3D printing processes. Many SLS parts are used for prototyping and will one day be injection molded.
Principle: Under the computer control, the laser beam selectively sinters according to the layered cross-sectional information. After one layer is completed, the next layer is sintered. After all sintering is completed and the excess powder is removed, a sintered part can be obtained.
Stereolithography (SLA)
Stereolithography (SLA) is the original industrial 3D printing process. SLA printers are good at producing parts with high details, smooth surface finish and strict tolerances. The surface finish on SLA parts not only looks nice, but also helps the functionality of the parts - for example, testing the fit of the assembly.
Principle: Stereolithography technology is that a laser beam is controlled by a computer, and the liquid photosensitive resin is cured layer by layer through the design data provided by the CAD system. This layer-by-layer bonding method combines the planar movement of the laser with the vertical movement of the platform to manufacture three-dimensional objects.
Inkjet Technology (PolyJet)
PolyJet is another plastic 3D printing process, but with a twist. It can manufacture parts with multiple attributes, such as color and material. Designers can use this technology to prototype elastomers or overmolded parts. If your design is a single rigid plastic, we recommend that you stick to SL or SLS - it is more economical this way. However, if you are prototyping an overmolded or silicone rubber design, PolyJet allows you to avoid investing in tools early in the development cycle. This can help you iterate and validate your design faster and save your money.
Principle: Each layer of photosensitive polymer material is solidified immediately after being sprayed with ultraviolet light, so as to produce a solidified model, which can be carried and used immediately without post-solidification. The gel-like support material specially designed to support complex geometries can be easily removed by hand or by spraying water.
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a common desktop 3D printing technology for plastic parts. The function of an FDM printer is to extrude plastic filaments layer by layer onto the build platform. This is an economical and fast method of making physical models. In some cases, FDM can be used for functional testing, but this technology is limited due to the relatively rough surface finish and insufficient strength of the parts.
Principle: The FDM process melts and extrudes plastic wire through a high-temperature nozzle, and the wire is accumulated, cooled and solidified on the platform or the processed product, and the entity is obtained by accumulating layer by layer.
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Digital Light Processing is similar to SLA because it uses light to cure liquid resin. The main difference between these two technologies is that DLP uses a digital light projector screen, while SLA uses an ultraviolet laser. This means that a DLP 3D printer can image an entire build layer at once, increasing the build speed. Although often used for rapid prototyping, the higher throughput of DLP printing makes it suitable for small batch production of plastic parts.
Principle: The principle is to project the light source emitted by the light through the condensing lens to uniform the light, and then through a color wheel to divide the light into RGB three colors (or more colors), and then project the color on the DND through the lens, and project and image through the projection lens.
Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
Electron Beam Melting is another metal 3D printing technology that uses an electron beam controlled by an electromagnetic coil to melt metal powder. During the build process, the print bed is heated and in a vacuum state. The temperature to which the material is heated is determined by the material used.
Principle: Import the 3D solid model data of the part into the EBM equipment, and then spread a thin layer of fine metal powder in the working chamber of the EBM equipment, and use the high-density energy generated at the focus of the high-energy electron beam after deflection and focusing to cause the metal powder layer scanned to generate high temperature in a local small area, resulting in the melting of metal particles, and the continuous scanning of the electron beam will cause individual small metal molten pools to merge and solidify, connecting to form linear and planar metal layers.
Multi Jet Fusion (MJF)
Similar to SLS, Multi Jet Fusion also uses nylon powder to manufacture functional parts. Instead of using a laser to sinter the powder, MJF uses an inkjet array to apply a fusing agent to the nylon powder bed. Then the heating element passes through the bed to fuse each layer. Compared to SLS, this results in more consistent mechanical properties and an improved surface finish. Another benefit of the MJF process is the faster build time, which reduces the production cost.
Principle: The working mode of this technology is very interesting: first spread a layer of powder, then spray the flux, and at the same time spray a kind of detailing agent to ensure the fineness of the edge of the printed object, and then apply a heat source on it again. This layer is considered completed. And so on until the 3D object is completed.
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)
Metal 3D printing opens up new possibilities for metal part design. It is often used to reduce metal, multi-component assemblies into single components or lightweight parts with internal channels or hollowed-out features. DMLS can be used for prototyping and production because the density of the parts is as dense as that produced by traditional metal manufacturing methods such as machining or casting.
Principle: By using a high-energy laser beam and controlled by 3D model data to locally melt the metal matrix, and at the same time sinter and solidify the powder metal material and stack it automatically layer by layer to generate a dense geometrically shaped solid part.
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