TYPES 0F 3D

PRINTING

SPARX3D

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Table Of Contents
1. Types of 3D Printing
2. Fused Deposition Modeling
3. Vat polymerisation
a. Stereolithography
b. Digital light processing
4. Powder bed fusion
a. Selective laser sintering
b. Direct metal sintering
5. FDM technology
a. Types of FDM printer

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Types of 3D Printing
► Many technologies:
► Material Extrusion Technology - FDM (Fused Deposition
Modeling)
► Vat Polymerization Technology -
► DLP (Digital Light Processing)
► SLA (Stereolithography)
► Powder Bed Fusion -
► SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) for polymers.
► DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering)
► Other technologies EBM, SLM and LOM became dated and
economically not feasible.

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Fused Deposition Modeling
► Material extrusion 3D printing process.
► Most popular 3D printing technology.
► Filament of solid thermoplastic material is pushed through a
heated nozzle, melting it in the process.
► Printer deposits the material layer by layer on a build platform
along a predetermined path.
► Filament cools and solidifies to form a solid object.
► Sometimes referred to as Fused Filament Fabrication or FFF.
► Most cost-effective way of producing custom thermoplastic parts
and prototypes

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► Wide range of thermoplastic materials is available, suitable for
both prototyping and some functional applications.
► The production time is significantly lower than other tech.
► FDM has lowest dimensional accuracy and resolution compared to
other 3D printing technologies.
► Parts have visible layer lines, post processing is required for a
smooth finish.
► Layer adhesion mechanism makes FDM parts anisotropic.

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Vat Polymerisation

► 3D printing process where a photo-polymer resin in a vat is

selectively cured by a light source.
► Most common forms -
► SLA (Stereolithography)
► DLP (Digital Light Processing).
► Difference between these types of 3D printing technology is the
light source used to cure the resin.
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SLA (Stereolithography)

► World’s first 3D printing technology.

► SLA printer uses mirrors, known as galvanometers or galvos.
► One positioned on the X-axis and another on the Y-axis.
► These galvos rapidly aim a laser beam across a vat of resin,
selectively curing and solidifying a cross-section, building it up
layer by layer.
► SLA can produce parts with very high dimensional accuracy and
with intricate details.

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► SLA parts have a very smooth surface finish, making them ideal for
visual prototypes.
► Specialty SLA materials are available, such as clear, flexible and
castable resins.
► SLA parts are generally brittle and not suitable for functional
prototypes.
► The mechanical properties and visual appearance of SLA parts will
degrade overtime when the parts are exposed to sunlight.
► Support structures are always required and post-processing is
necessary to remove the visual marks left on the SLA part.

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DLP (Digital Light Processing)

► Almost the same as SLA.

► Key difference is that DLP uses a digital light projector to flash a
single image of each layer all at once.
► Since the projector is a digital screen, image of each layer is
composed of square pixels resulting in a layer formed from small
rectangular blocks called voxels.
► DLP can achieve faster print times compared to SLA.
► Since a DLP 3D printer uses a digital projector screen, it’s difficult
to print large detailed parts using its full build volume,

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Powder Bed Fusion

► 3D printing process where a thermal energy source will selectively

induce fusion between powder particles inside a build area to
create a solid object.
► Most common forms -
► SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)
► DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering).
► SLS method is used for polymers and DMLS is used for Metal

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SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)

► A bin of polymer powder is heated to a temperature just below the

polymers melting point.
► A recoating blade or wiper deposits a very thin layer of the
powdered material onto a build platform.
► Just like SLA a laser will selectively sinter the powder and solidify a
cross-section of the object.
► After entire cross-section is scanned, the build platform moves
down one layer thickness in height.

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► Recoating blade deposits a fresh layer of powder on top of the
recently scanned layer, and the laser will sinter the next cross-
section of the object.
► These steps are repeated until all objects are fully manufactured.
► Powder which hasn’t been sintered remains in place to support the
object, which eliminating the need for support structures.
► SLS parts have good, isotropic mechanical properties, making them
ideal for functional parts and prototypes.
► SLS requires no support, so designs with complex geometries can
be easily produced.

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► Prouction time is much higher than other 3D printing technologies,
such as FDM and SLA.
► SLS parts have a grainy surface finish and internal porosity that
may require post processing, if a smooth surface or watertightness
are required.
► Large flat surfaces and small holes cannot be printed accurately
with SLS, as they are susceptible to warping and oversintering.

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DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering)
► DMLS produce objects in a similar fashion to SLS.
► Main difference is this technology is applied to the production of metal parts.
► Material is finely powdered metal of particle size 20 to 40 micrometers.
► The size of particle and shape limit the detail and resolution of the product.
► DMLS does not melt the powder but instead heats it to a point so that it can
fuse together on a molecular level.
► DMLS processes require structural support, in order to limit the possibility of
any distortion that may occur.
► DMLS parts are at risk of warping due to the residual stresses produced during
printing because of the high temperatures.
► Parts are also typically heat-treated after printing.

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FDM Technology

►There are 4 types of FDM printers -

► Cartesian Printer
► Delta Printer
► Polar Printer
► SCARA Printer

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Cartesian Printer
► Most common types of 3D printers.
► Based on the Cartesian coordinate system.
► The three axes in the cartesian geometry is used to determined the position
and the path of the printhead in 3 dimensional space.
► The print bed generally moves along the Z or the Y axis.
► The printhead sits and moves along the other two axes.
► Require much lesser space and are easier to enclose.
► Produces really accurate 3D prints.
► Moving parts are quite heavy making it difficult to stop or change directions
rapidly hence cause problems like lowered print speed or minor defects.

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Delta 3D Printer
► Also based on the Cartesian coordinate system.
► They use three arms that suspend the extruder above the
print platform.
► The three arms are arranged in a triangular formation hence
the name delta.
► The arms move up and down determining the position and
path of the print head.
► All driving components are on the fixed platform making the
moving parts and the printhead fairly light.
► This enables the print head to respond to direction changes
very quickly and increase the print speed dramatically.

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► The delta type printers utilises a circular print bed that is fixed in
place.
► Delta printers excell at printing fairly to very accurate models
really quickly.
► Lighter moving parts means lesser wear and tear low maintenance
due to.
► Delta printers are much taller with respect to the build height, the
printer take more space than other types of printers.

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Polar 3D Printer

► One of the newly developing technology.

► Uses a polar coordinate system.
► Printer has a spinning bed and a print head that can move up,
down, left and right.
► Polar 3D printers can have a greater build volume within a smaller
space.

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Selective Compliance Assembly
Robotic Arm(SCARA)
► Another developing technology.
► A SCARA 3D printer looks and moves much like an
industrial robotic arm.
► Technology under development hence no
significant amount of data.

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