Flexural performance of nano-particle reinforced uv-curable resins manufactured by stereolithography

Abstract

A portion of a more conclusive testing matrix applied to nano-particle reinforced UV-curable resins for their application to additive manufacturing by stereolithography is presented. A low cost desktop printer Anycubic Photon Mono X 4K SLA machine is used in the manufacturing efforts. Nano-composite samples of two types of SLA resins (tough and rigid) reinforced with 4 different types of different nanoparticles (Al2O3 , B4C, SiO2 , SiC) at two different filling ratio (1 wt. % and 5. wt.%) are targeted. The effect of nanoparticles has been searched on bottom layer/normal layer interfaces and on bulk response of normal printing layers. In overall a general assessment of 32 experimentation points in terms of their flexural strength, manufacturability and color. Fast and reliable printing of nanocomposite parts with Al2O3 and SiO2 nanoparticles up to 5wt.% was achieved. Printing of UV-curable resins with SiC B4C was dependent on the resin type and manufacturing of nanocomposites with 5 wt.% B4C was not possible. Among all candidates the use of Al2O3 nanoparticles resulted in flexural strength increase in both type of resins and both type of specimen types while changing the part color to creamy white from transparent. Other particles contributed negatively to the strength of rigid resin due to potential agglomerations especially in the case of 1-5 wt.% SiC and 1% B4C. In the case of tough resins, all of the suggested particle types provided strength to printed parts both on bottom layer/normal layer interface and inside normal layers. Overall it can be suggested that, both mechanical response and the color of tough line resins can be tuned with the addition of nano-sized particles.