This procedure repeats until the object is printed. The stage can then be raised again by a defined distance, and another layer can be cured. In the projection based curing method, the digital mirror device allows for a whole layer to be cured simultaneously. Next, a laser is guided to the stage to polymerize the material in the reservoir that is between the laser and the stage. In this particular configuration of an SLA printer, the stage is submerged a defined distance into the photopolymer reservoir. (B) Schematic of a layer configuration SLA printer with a projection based curing method. To initiate the following layer, the stage sinks lower into the vat until a new layer of liquid resin covers the surface and the curing process repeats. A single laser moves along the surface of the resin, row by row, until completely curing the desired layer.
The stage is located just below the surface of the liquid resin. (A) Schematic of a bath configuration SLA printer with a direct write curing process. With Hull’s work, in addition to the development and subsequent patenting of fused deposition modeling (FDM) by Scott Crump (5) at Stratasys in 1990, 3D printing was poised to revolutionize manufacturing and research.įigure 2.
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STL file format, which would “complete the electronic ‘handshake’ from computer aided design (CAD) software and transmit files for the printing of 3D objects.” (4) Hull and 3D Systems continued to develop the first 3D printer termed the “Stereolithography Apparatus” as well as the first commercial 3D printer available to the general public, the SLA-250. In 1986, he established 3D Systems and developed the. In 1986, Hull obtained the patent for stereolithography (2) and would go on to acquire countless more patents on the technology, (3) including, but not limited to, those cited in this article. (1) The lengthy fabrication process (1–2 months) coupled with the high probability of design imperfections, thereby, requiring several iterations to perfect, provided Hull with the motivation to improve current methods in prototype development. in engineering physics from the University of Colorado, Hull started work on fabricating plastic devices from photopolymers in the early 1980s at Ultra Violet Products in California. The conception of 3D printing, also referred to as additive manufacturing (AM), rapid prototyping (RP), or solid-freeform technology (SFF), was developed by Charles Hull.