Consistent Resin Curing Techniques in 3D Printing

High-performance 3D printing curing device with features to improve low temperature performance, odor control, and prevent cover detachment during printing. The device has an external heating plate around the resin storage box, powered by an internal battery and controlled by a board. This prevents resin solidification at low temps. An exhaust fan sucks and exhausts odors. A rotating mechanism clamps the cover to prevent falling during printing.

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Heating control method for 3D printers to improve print quality and avoid defects when using resin-based 3D printers. The method involves detecting the temperature of the resin in the print chamber and automatically heating it if needed. This prevents local hot spots and ensures even heating. The temperature is monitored during printing, and if it falls below a threshold, the resin is heated. If new resin is added, it's circulated to mix. This ensures the printed layer temperature is consistent, preventing issues like warping or incomplete curing.

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UV oven for curing 3D printed parts with improved clamping, curing efficiency, and heat dissipation. The oven has a box with clamping mechanism for holding the 3D printed part, UV lamp tubes, and ventilation system. The clamping mechanism has adjustable springs to accommodate parts of different sizes. The UV lamps are horizontally arranged on both sides of the part to maximize coverage. The ventilation system uses inert gas and fans to dissipate heat. This provides stable downward pressure, accurate rotation positioning, and uniform UV exposure for better 3D part curing.

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Precision projection frame for a light-curing 3D printer that ensures consistent curing of printed parts. The frame has a lifting mechanism with a telescoping cylinder, sliding frame, and rotating lamp holders. This allows adjusting the height of the curing light to match the build plate. The lamp holders can rotate to align the curing light for each layer. This prevents light variation across layers during curing.

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Using 3D printing to prepare thermosetting polymers with improved yield and ability to make complex shapes compared to traditional bulk polymerization methods. The process involves mixing the monomers, initiators, crosslinkers, etc. and pre-polymerizing them. Then, the slurry is 3D printed into the mold and polymerized in situ. This allows controlled polymerization without the explosive gel effect.

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Varying physical and mechanical properties of 3D-printed products using techniques like grayscale image stacks, adjusting light intensity, and varying post-print curing to create regions with different cure levels. This allows creating products with variable properties like elasticity, stiffness, and optical properties from a single resin, printing process, and curing process.

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Device for post-curing 3D printed objects that improves strength by minimizing oxygen during the curing process. The device uses nitrogen injection between the loading area and the UV LEDs to create a nitrogen environment for curing. The LED array has a central element surrounded by multiple elements spaced apart in a circular pattern. This ensures even UV distribution for balanced curing. The device also has features like rotating trays, heat sinks, coolers, and UV sensors.

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A device for post-curing 3D printed objects that uses nitrogen to improve strength by minimizing oxygen during curing. The device has a case with a loading area for the 3D printed object, surrounded by UV LEDs for curing. Nitrogen is supplied between the loading area and LEDs to create a nitrogen environment. This reduces oxygen concentration during curing to enhance the strength of the post-cured 3D printed objects. The device also has a heat sink, cooler, and cage to manage heat and contain the nitrogen.

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Using cyanate ester monomers for 3D printing without post-curing. The cyanate ester monomers, along with a photoinitiator and optionally an oxidizing agent, are used to create a polymerizable composition for 3D printing. The composition is heated above 70°C and then irradiated to initiate polymerization. The oxidizing agent shortens the polymerization time. The high-temperature curing allows 3D printing of cyanate ester polymers without post-curing.

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Using cyanate ester monomers in polymerizable compositions for 3D printing to create parts with good thermomechanical properties without post-curing. The cyanate ester monomers are cyclotrimerized through repeated cycloaddition reactions to form crosslinked polymers with triazine rings. The 3D printing process involves using a laser to selectively cure the cyanate ester resin layer by layer. This allows complex shapes to be printed without the need for energy-intensive thermal post-treatment. The cyanate ester monomers provide high glass transition temperatures, strength, and dimensional stability in the resulting printed parts.

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3D printing of carbon fiber reinforced thermosetting composites using UV curing with pre-curing to enable 3D printing of carbon fiber composites using UV curable resins. The method involves pre-curing the carbon fiber tow before 3D printing to cure the resin on the surface. An elliptical mirror system focuses UV light onto the carbon fiber tow as it passes through. This pre-cures the surface resin. The pre-cured tow is then printed using a 3D printer with a heated chamber to complete curing. The pre-curing ensures internal resin cure since UV can't penetrate carbon fiber.

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3D printing systems that enable precise and consistent curing of green parts (unfinished 3D printed parts) to reduce post-processing time and improve quality. The systems use sensors and feedback loops to monitor the curing process in real-time and adjust parameters like temperature, light intensity, and exposure duration as needed. This adaptive curing improves green part properties and reduces the need for subsequent post-processing steps. The systems can also use machine learning to optimize curing based on part geometry and material properties.

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Curing device and method for 3D printed objects that provides uniform curing of the inside and outside of 3D printed parts without issues like discoloration, deformation, or cracking. The curing device has a chamber that can be vacuum or non-vacuum. Light sources with UV and longer wavelength emitters are inside the chamber. The parts are cured first in air then vacuum to sequentially cure the inside and outside. This avoids overcuring on bends or cracks from internal curing. The vacuum removes oxygen hindrance for UV curing and the longer wavelength emitters enable thermal curing. The light sources are arranged on the chamber walls for uniform curing.

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Controlling temperature at the resin interface in an additive manufacturing process improves 3D printing quality and avoids issues like warping and delamination. The process involves independently heating the bulk resin, building chamber, and resin-interface layer to specific target temperatures. This allows selective curing of layers without disrupting the bulk resin temperature or building chamber environment.

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Dual curing resin for digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing that has improved mechanical properties compared to conventional DLP resins. The resin is a combination of light curable and thermally curable components. The light curable component is made of acrylate-based oligomers like soybean oil acrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, tripropylene glycol diacrylate, epoxy acrylate, and Bisphenol A epoxy. The thermally curable component is made of epoxy resins like cycloaliphatic epoxy and bisphenol A epoxy. By combining light and heat curing, the resin can have better mechanical properties compared to just light curing. The dual curing allows for 3D printing with improved strength and accuracy compared to pure light curing resins.

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3D printing of parts with improved mechanical properties and reduced warping. The method involves using a photopolymer composite ink with a dual-cure system that enables complete curing of each layer in a 3D printed object. The composite consists of a polymer matrix, inorganic fillers, and a combination of photo and thermal initiators. The dual-cure initiators allow the composite to be partially cured by UV light after each layer is printed and then fully cured by heat. This prevents uncured resin from accumulating stress and warping the part.

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Thermosetting material for 3D printing that can be used to make 3D printed objects with improved thermal and mechanical properties compared to existing thermosetting materials. The material contains specific compounds like epoxy resin A, elastomer-modified epoxy resin B, resin C with low viscosity at high temps, and curing agent D. This combination allows 3D printed objects with glass transition temperatures (Tg) and heat deflection temperatures (HDT) above 80°C, high resistance to chemicals and solvents, and good flame retardance and dielectric strength. The material also has reduced warping during printing, improved dimensional accuracy, and reduced agglomeration of powdered material.

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3D printing method using a two-component resin with improved print quality and success rate. The method involves thermally precuring the resin before UV curing. The resin composition contains photocurable resin, a thermosetting resin, a chain extender, and a thermal initiator. The thermosetting resin has blocked active groups. By precuring at 70-120°C for 10-30 minutes, the resin forms a loose network. Then UV curing creates a tight network. The precuring step improves print success and conversion during thermal curing.

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3D printing resin composition and printing method for creating 3D printed parts with improved strength, toughness, and aging resistance compared to traditional light-curing resins. The composition is a photo-thermal dual curing resin that combines UV curing and heat curing in a multi-step process. The resin contains a photocurable resin monomer, a thermosetting resin prepolymer, a chain extender, and a photoinitiator. First, UV curing forms a loose network. Then, UV curing again followed by heat curing completes the polymerization and forms a dense, compact interpenetrating network.

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Apparatus for dispensing and curing liquid media like resins for 3D printing and other applications. The apparatus has a nozzle to dispense the media, a microwave source to cure it, and a displacement assembly to move the nozzle relative to the workpiece. The microwave irradiation zone is between the nozzle and the reservoir, so curing happens before the media enters the workpiece. This allows moving the nozzle to fill complex molds without viscosity changes during curing. The media properties are also controlled by mixing and metering devices upstream of the irradiation zone. Moving the nozzle, dispensing, and curing simultaneously allows it to fill large molds with precise control for quality 3D printing.

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