Reinforced photocurable materials for an Additive Manufacturing process based on Mask Image Projection

Abstract Mask Image Projection based on Stereolithography (MIP-SL) is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) system which it is based on a Frontal Photopolymerization Process (FPP) to manufacture parts made of photocurable materials. In this paper, a FPP numerical model is used to analyse the printability of different reinforced photocurable materials for MIP-SL manufacturing process. Consequently, optimal printing parameters could be defined to increase the material photoconversion ratio. Two different reinforcements are used to analyse the influence of fillers on FPP material coefficients. The results show the use of reinforcement could significantly enhance the mechanical properties obtained by means of experimental compression tests.