Methods for modeling and real-time visualization of CLIP and iCLIP-based 3D printing

Abstract

Resin 3D printing is experiencing greater adoption in real-world fabrication settings for both prototyping and manufacturing. To optimize the speed of these fabrication methods, few techniques for predicting and visualizing such processes, and its variants, in real-time have been proposed and rigorously evaluated. In this work we outline and validate two complementary methods to monitoring resin 3D printing, specifically continuous liquid interface production (CLIP), in real-time for optimal print parameter selection. Namely, we use: (1) a load cell mounted on the build platform capable of measuring tensile forces during printing, and (2) our novel approach to optical coherence tomography scanning aligned with the printer resin vat. After describing our technical implementation of each of these strategies below, we assess the benefits of each in turn, and evaluate their relative limitations.

Keywords

• 3D printing
• Real-time process monitoring
• Visualization