Stereo lithography

0605201-201

[DEFINITION]
A process for obtaining three-dimensional shapes by laminating two-dimensional shapes produced by curing some liquid photopolymerizing resin with a laser beam.

[DESCRIPTION]
Generally, stereo lithography consists of an ultraviolet laser source, a laser beam scanner, an elevator device, photopolymerizing resin, and a computer. The computer has a function to create data for manufacturing the three-dimensional form based on the characteristics of the resin, and a function to control all the equipment swiftly and precisely. Accordingly, if a sharply focused laser beam is directed at part of a resin, it will create a thin-film cured layer. Three-dimensional objects with complex shapes can be fabricated by stacking cured layers. Compared to conven-tional processing equipment, stereo lithography can quickly produce a complex three-dimensional shape in a single process, and can produce a completely different three-dimensional shape with a single piece of equipment by modifying the input data.

[References]
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