Abstract:
The researcher has done a project on the new technology of stereolithography (SLA). This technology uses a 3-D model of a part to rapidly produce a prototype part using a laser to solidify a liquid resin. This procedure gives the customer the chance to see a product in hours instead of months. The material, however, is too brittle for tests that involve stress on the part to be conducted. It was the intent of the research project to find the right combination of cure time and variable settings which would yield the maximum strength of the material. Since the project was for Delco Remy, the researcher compared a GM resin with a suggested resin from the SLA manufacturer. Because of understandable reasons with competition in the automotive industry, the actual names of the resins have been withheld from the report. ASTM test standards were used in the tests that were conducted.
