Continuous high-speed resin 3D printing by interface temperature control : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 15th December 2027

Abstract

The development of high-speed Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods for small, accurate and precise parts is becoming increasingly important as the demand for rapid low-cost AM fabrication continues to grow. Vat photopolymerisation systems offer excellent resolution and accuracy, however their printing speed is often limited by the stiction between the cured resin and the substrate. This stiction restricts how quickly layers can be separated during the printing process and is one of the key limitations preventing the wider adoption of high-speed and continuous 3D printing. This thesis investigates the impact of the substrate temperature on this stiction in bottom-up Digital Light Processing (DLP) systems to understand how temperature influences the stiction between polymerised resin and the substrate and if the peeling operation can be removed by reducing or eliminating stiction. A series of experiments were conducted to understand the stiction impact, followed by preliminary testing on continuous-style 3D printing using the experimental system. Results showed that by lowering the substrate temperature, a reduction in stiction occurred allowing parts to print reliably without becoming stuck to the substrate. It was further shown that warm substrate conditions resulted in the print becoming stuck to the substrate. Following this, successful continuous 3D printing was performed with findings showing that substrate temperature control may be a practical method to support faster printing and may form part of a wider solution in future works on continuous 3D printing systems.