Application and Advantages of Solid Epoxy Resin 3D Printing

Applications of Solid Epoxy Resin 3D Printing

Epoxy resin and additive manufacturing are innovative technologies that are disrupting various industries and research fields. Compared to traditional manufacturing methods, 3D printing technology has multiple advantages, such as reducing waste, providing more design freedom, low cost, rapid production, small-batch production, and integrated assembly, among others.

Epoxy resin, as a material for epoxy resin 3D printing, is suitable for many devices and components. For example, automotive parts, printed electronics, coatings, adhesives, and fiber-reinforced composites produced by traditional processes.

Epoxy resin 3D printing has the advantage of being superior to traditional materials due to the low cost of resin and the ability to produce complex geometries quickly. Factors such as curing, resin types, the role of photoinitiators and curing agents, as well as the performance of printed parts, are key elements in researching these advanced materials. Optimizing the printing process and material characteristics is crucial for enhancing the commercial viability of epoxy resin 3D printing base materials and components.

Advantages of Epoxy Resin 3D Printing

In 3D printing photosensitive resins, epoxy resin has excellent mechanical properties, chemical stability, high/low temperature resistance, low shrinkage rate, and low cost.

From a molecular perspective, the curing process of photosensitive resin is the transition from small molecules to long-chain large molecule polymers, and its molecular structure undergoes significant changes. Therefore, shrinkage during the curing process is inevitable. The resin's shrinkage mainly consists of two parts: one is curing shrinkage, and the other part is thermal expansion and contraction caused by temperature changes when the laser scans the liquid resin surface. Meanwhile, the area of elevated temperature is very small, making the shrinkage caused by temperature changes negligible. 

The volume shrinkage generated during the photo-curing process of photosensitive resin has an unavoidable impact on part accuracy. Volume shrinkage leads to the generation of shrinkage stress, causing warping deformation of parts. During the curing of acrylate resins, the polymerization reaction involves the breaking of carbon-carbon double bonds, resulting in significant volume shrinkage. In contrast, epoxy resins undergo ring-opening reactions during curing, leading to relatively smaller volume shrinkage. Using the cycloaliphatic epoxy resin products from Jiangsu Taiter for shrinkage rate testing, it has been observed that during photo-curing, the volume shrinkage rate of cycloaliphatic epoxy resin is significantly lower than that of acrylates.

Due to the low viscosity, excellent weather resistance, low curing shrinkage, high cross-linking density, and high reactivity of cycloaliphatic epoxy resins, epoxy resin 3D printing applications are very extensive and are among the most important base oligomers.

For such applications, TETRA has launched cycloaliphatic epoxy resin products that have extensive application practice in SLA 3D printing photosensitive resins. They can meet the formulation needs of most domestic and international SLA 3D printing photosensitive resins.