Stereolithography and its applications

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) using cost-effective, accurate, and fast processes is one of the major challenges of today's manufacturing community. Stereolithography (SL or SLA) is a promising technique of AM that is believed to satisfy these requirements. In this process, photopolymerization is used to obtain a 3D model of the desired parts directly from their computer-aided design models. The process works by focusing an ultraviolet (UV) laser on a reservoir of photosensitive polymer resin to solidify it layer by layer, resulting in the desired 3D shape. In this chapter, photopolymerization process and how photopolymers response when they are exposed to UV light sources are discussed along with the application of SLA process in different industries such as manufacturing of industrial parts, including military, medical, and biomedical applications. The physicomechanical properties of fabricated polymeric parts will be explained, including viscosity, tensile strength, elastic modulus, flexibility, and toughness. Some case studies regarding the application of this method for polymeric composite material fabrication, preoperation phantom models, scaffolds preparation used in tissue engineering, and drug-loaded models are discussed.