Evaluation of polymer micro parts produced by additive manufacturing processes using vat photopolymerization method

Micro manufacturing scale feature production by Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes for the direct production of miniaturized polymer components is analysed in this work. The study characterizes the AM processes for polymer micro parts productions using the vat photopolymerization method. A specifically designed vat photopolymerization AM machine suitable for precision printing has been developed, built and validated.

In order to evaluate the AM machine capability a test part is designed having features with different sizes and aspect ratios. The printing parameters selected for the evaluation are considered as exposure time, light intensity and layer thickness. In order to have an initial optimal range of parameters values, a sensitivity analysis carried out prior to the final experimental plan.

The print quality was assessed in terms of separation between the rows and columns of printed cubes, the number of printed features with square cross section and the surface roughness. The results declare the importance of different factors in micro AM processes.