The Effect of Resin Quality on 3D Printing Accuracy

Abstract 

A previous test confirmed that the post-curing process is critical for producing highly accurate 3D prints. The print accuracy can be varied when using the same resin but different UV boxes. However, the quality of the resin has a greater effect on print accuracy. During the polymerization process, the volume of the print can change. Even immediately after post curing, the polymerization process can still be active for a short period of time. The difference between the size of the original model and the final print is called the “scaling ratio”.

In this experiment, we review and reaffirm the importance of resin calibration and stability of our new resin, CURO Model. We make a comparison between CURO Model and two other resins that are readily available and that we purchased online.

Method: 

We use the same STL file for all prints in this experiment. To test the difference between the calibrated and uncalibrated resins, one model is printed with a rescaling ratio and another is printed without the re-scaling ratio. In addition, two other resins are also tested in this experiment. To understand the rescaling effect of the different resins, the unscaled IBF file is used for printing the other two resins. We measure the accuracy with a desktop 3D scanner to determine how many scanned digital points are the same as the original STL file. The scanning process occurs immediately after the post-curing process and then again 24 hours after post curing.

Testing group:

1. CURO Model 2.0 without re-scaling ratio 
2. Brand A resin without re-scaling ratio
3. Brand B resin without re-scaling ratio

Results:

CURO Model – Without Re-scaling Ratio

Scan immediately after post curing
	78.98%	Lower Limit: 11.80%	Upper Limit 90.78%
24 hours after post curing
	82.18%	Lower Limit 11.85%	Upper Limit 94.03%

Resin A – Without Re-scaling Ratio

Scan immediately after post curing
	83.16%	Lower Limit: 14.13%	Upper Limit 97.28%
24 hours after post curing
	57.28%	Lower Limit: 38.048%	Upper Limit 95.329%

Resin B – Without Re-scaling Ratio

Scan immediately after post curing
	57.28%	Lower Limit 38.05%	Upper Limit 95.33%
24 hours after post curing
	20.66%	Lower Limit 37.90%	Upper Limit 58.56%