Stereolithography resin 3D printing is the original 3D printing process. SLA resin 3D printers are the most popular for 3D printing. Traditionally, these printers were expensive and difficult for non-expert users, but recent advancements have made them more accessible, affordable, and of higher quality.
SLA printers take a liquid resin and turn it into hard plastic through a light source. However, for SLA printing, a laser is used for the light source. This is different from the light source utilized by DLA resin 3D printers. The UV light from the laser initiates the polymerization process necessary to cure the liquid resin.
The resin sits in a non-stick surface tank that allows the liquid resin to harden without sticking to the surface around it. The liquid resin carefully separates from the newly formed layers. A build platform is the part of the printer that goes into the resin tank to make the layers. The platform can move up and down to let more resin in after the printer forms a layer.
During the printing process, the build platform lowers into the resin tank leaving just enough space for the layer height. Once the platform lowers into the resin, the laser cures the photopolymer resin by pointing at two mirror galvanometers. The galvanometers direct the laser to the points of the layer. The laser slices through the resin point by point.
After the laser cures the layer, the layer detaches from the tank while the build platform rises to allow more resin to flow. The process starts over again until the printing has finished.
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