3D Printing Development
Stereolithography (SLA) - Print Process Development
Form 3 Early Stage Prototyping
Supported early stage prototype production and maintenance for the Form 3
​
Ensured a rigorous print success rate, designed suite of test parts, and diagnosed print failures and artifacts. Proposed potential solutions and features to the Print Process and Software teams to improve printability and prevent future issues.
Part Overhang Quantification Study
.png)
Determined maximum distance of layer N+1’s perimeter from the previously printed layer N that can be successfully printed without supports.
​
Printed layers must build off of each other to print successfully, or else utilize an additional support structure. Additional supports get trashed after printing, consume additional resin, and require additional post-processing from users. Determining the extremes of geometry conformations that can print without supports will guide support generation algorithm development and determine part design guidelines for customers.
Blowout Failure & Wall Thickness Correlation
Developed experiments to determine guidelines for recommended part geometries, and characterized a common print failure.
​
“Blowouts” are a print failure that defines a rough surface finish on the outside of a hollow/enclosed surface, often accompanied by a resulting hole in the part. Designed experiments to test minimum allowable wall thickness for varying enclosed shapes, and correlated probability of blowout to shape/surface area/volume of parts.
Part Expanding Area Study
.png)
Determined maximum possible area change between print layer N and layer N+1 that does not require supports.
​
Drastic changes in surface area between layer N and the following layer N+1 increase peel forces during printing, which can lead to print failures (eg ‘explosions’) and potential tank damage. Results from this study influenced user design guidelines and characterized the resulting force for a given change in layer surface area.