Evaluation of postcuring process on the thermal and mechanical properties of the Clear02™ resin used in stereolithography

• Published in: Polymer testing Vol. 72; pp. 115 - 121
• Main Authors: Mendes-Felipe, Cristian, Patrocinio, David, Laza, José M., Ruiz-Rubio, Leire, Vilas-Vilela, José Luis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Barking Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: 3-D printers; 3D printing; Chemical properties; Crosslinking; Dimensional changes; Lithography; Mechanical properties; Organic chemistry; Photoresin; Physical properties; Physico-chemical properties; Postcure process; Stereolithography; Thermodynamic properties; Three dimensional printing; Ultraviolet radiation; Mechanical properties; Stereolithography; Postcure process; Photoresin; Physico-chemical properties; 3D printing
• ISSN: 0142-9418; 1873-2348
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2018.10.018

The three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is changing the modern manufacturing of many pieces due to its versatility, immediacy and reduced cost. Thus, stereolithography (SLA), as one 3D printing technology, is becoming an important method to construct small pieces and, therefore, new materials used for it are still nowadays under study. SLA has numerous drawbacks such as the composition and the chemistry of commercially available materials are unknown, or the lack of knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of the final piece. Moreover, pieces printed by this method, usually, present an incomplete curing process when are extracted from the printer. Since some of the properties of the pieces often depend on this process, in this work Clear02™ resin from Formlabs was used to build samples and the influence of the postcuring process on the final properties of the printed pieces has been evaluated. Two types of postcuring process have been studied over the time: without any source of light and with the exposure to UV light. Both postcuring methods have been proven effective to fully postcured the pieces. In addition, it has been observed that the thermal properties of the material do not depend on how the postcuring process takes place. Nevertheless, a homogenous high crosslinked material with better mechanical properties is obtained with the UV postcuring process. •Curing process of 3D printing is incomplete and the postcure processes are necessary.•Postcure at room temperature with time and UV light have proved to be efficient and achieve complete cure in 30 hours.•Thermal properties of the material do not depend on the postcure process.•Mechanical properties depend on the curing degree and on the postcuring process used.