Reducing Separation Force for Projection Stereolithography based on Constrained Surface Technique

Projection-based stereolithography is divided into constrained-surface and free-surface type according to controlling liquid layer. The constrained-surface type has a uniform layer thickness due to the use of a projection window, which covers the pattern generator such as liquid crystal display. However, the adhered resin on the projection window causes trouble and requires great separation force when the cured layer is separated from the window. To minimize the separation force, we developed a system to measure the separation force. The influence of material covering the pattern generator and the resin temperature is investigated in the system. Several structures according to the resin temperature and the velocity of z-axis elevation are compared. As a result, the fabrication condition to minimize the separation force reduces the process time.