Stereolithography Prototyping

Stereolithography Prototyping

Stereolithography (SLA) is a technology that we've been watching for several years. We've been waiting for the technology to mature to the point where it is today. SLA substantially reduces the product development cycle. Also, the speed of SLA allows us to investigate more design options which improves the quality of the final product. In the past if we needed prototypes we would machine them from a block of plastic. Depending on the amount of detail this could take several days for just a few prototypes. In addition the cost is substantial. SLA has now reached the point where the technology has become a substitute for a large portion of prototype machining. Various SLA materials have the mechanical properties of ABS, polypropylene, nylon and polycarbonate plastics with accuracy of within 0.005". The material primarily used at Symbient is transparent which allows for viewing internal functions plus is a USP Class VI material, meaning that it is also implantable. Several parts may be built at a time and a run only takes hours, not days. A run can be started in the morning and by the afternoon the engineer has parts available to test. The added benefit is that SLA parts are only a fraction of the cost of machined parts.

The 3D Systems Viper at Symbient is the most accurate SLA machine available. The Viper SLA machine is a large investment which is why it is usually only found at large companies and service bureaus.