Use of parameter estimation for stereolithography surface finish improvement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that significant surface finish improvements can be accomplished in stereolithography (SL) fabricated parts by applying a new process planning method based on parameter estimation (PE).Design/methodology/approach – PE is a method that finds a set of parameter values that minimize a measure of deviation. In this work, the measure of deviation is the difference between the exposure received by points along down‐facing surfaces and the SL resin's critical exposure.Findings – The surface finish of down‐facing surfaces can be improved by a factor of 2‐9, depending upon the surface angle, compared with parts prepared using commercially available software. Surface finishes less than 1 μm Ra have been demonstrated on a SLA‐250/50 machine.Research limitations/implications – Only down‐facing surfaces can have their surface finish improved using this method.Practical implications – Common form errors known as “stair‐stepping” can be diminished on parts fabricated...

[1]  William H. Press,et al.  Numerical Recipes in C, 2nd Edition , 1992 .

[2]  Paul F. Jacobs,et al.  Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing: Fundamentals of Stereolithography , 1992 .

[3]  André Dolenc,et al.  Slicing procedures for layered manufacturing techniques , 1994, Comput. Aided Des..

[4]  Debasish Dutta,et al.  An accurate slicing procedure for layered manufacturing , 1996, Comput. Aided Des..

[5]  Philip E. Reeves,et al.  Reducing the surface deviation of stereolithography using in‐process techniques , 1997 .

[6]  Han Tong Loh,et al.  Optimal orientation with variable slicing in stereolithography , 1997 .

[7]  Prashant Kulkarni,et al.  An Integrated Software System for Process Planning for Layered Manufacturing , 1997 .

[8]  Kunwoo Lee,et al.  The development of a CAD environment to determine the preferred build-up direction for layered manufacturing , 1998 .

[9]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Computer‐aided build style decision support for stereolithography , 1998 .

[10]  Duc Truong Pham,et al.  Part Orientation in Stereolithography , 1999 .

[11]  Jack G. Zhou,et al.  PARAMETRIC PROCESS OPTIMIZATION TO IMPROVE THE ACCURACY OF RAPID PROTOTYPED STEREOLITHOGRAPHY PARTS , 2000 .

[12]  M. N. Özişik,et al.  Inverse Heat Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications , 2000 .

[13]  Yong Chen,et al.  Geometric Tailoring: A Design for Manufacturing Method for Rapid Prototyping and Rapid Tooling , 2001 .

[14]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Building around inserts: methods for fabricating complex devices in stereolithography , 2001 .

[15]  Jerry Y. H. Fuh,et al.  Laser-induced materials and processes for rapid prototyping , 2001 .

[16]  David W. Rosen,et al.  A process planning method for improving build performance in stereolithography , 2001, Comput. Aided Des..

[17]  Ofodike A. Ezekoye,et al.  Inverse design of a three dimensional furnace with moving design environment , 2001 .

[18]  William H. Press,et al.  Numerical recipes in C , 2002 .

[19]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Stereolithography cure modelling and simulation , 2004 .

[20]  D. Rosen,et al.  On the Use of Angled, Dynamic Laser Beams to Improve Stereolithography Surface Finish , 2004 .

[21]  Clifford H. Thurber,et al.  Parameter estimation and inverse problems , 2005 .

[22]  R. Slopek.  IN-SITU MONITORING OF PHOTOPOLYMERIZATION USING MICRORHEOLOGY , 2005 .

[23]  J. Giannatsis,et al.  Decision support tool for selecting fabrication parameters in stereolithography , 2007 .