Characterization of surface roughness and analysis of process value in stereolithography

Abstract

The build process in stereolithography (SL) is essentially performed by means of a layered manufacturing (LM) process. Despite the increased number of applications for SL the parts, the surface problem limits their wider use due to the LM process. The aim of this study is to characterize the surface roughness of the parts processed by the SL technology and analyze the process values which influence the roughness. Surface profiles of the SL test parts were investigated, and a schematic was constructed to compute the average roughness using the process values of the surface angle, layer thickness, curing depth and curing profile. The presented expressions were evaluated and verified by comparison of the measured data and the computed values. Additionally, the effect of the process values for the roughness values were analyzed and discussed. ? 2012 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.