Saturday 9 August 2014

Stereolithography Technology to shape the 3D printing Market

The global 3D printing report is a global gateway to formidable investment in the market. Investors can get actionable insights form the reports for different regions such as North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

The report titled ” Global 3D Printing Market (Technology, Material, Services, Application and Geography) - Size, Share, Global Trends, Company Profiles, Demand, Insights, Analysis, Research, Report, Opportunities, Segmentation and Forecast, 2013 – 2020,” has recognized Stereolithography technology to be the hotspot for growth.



AMR analysts analyzed the above technology to be a hotbed for investors. The technology is mainly used for models, patterns, manufacturing prototypes and production parts. The technology builds the 3D object in layers, starting from the bottom, inside a container filled with liquid polymer. The container is then exposed to a laser beam to harden the liquid.

“In 1986, a patent was issued for this printing technique and the first production system for stereolithography was commercialized in 1988 by 3D systems,” as per the AMR analyst.
Stereolithography developed prototypes are robust and best as master patterns for injection molding, metal casting processes, and blow molding. The main reason for the growth of the technology is that it is time-saving.

“Prototypes produced using stereolithography require less time as compared to other conventional methods. Models developed using stereolithography aid clients in visualizing the product in the form of miniatures even before the production goes live. Stereolithography facilitates conversion of CAD drawings into factual objects or prototypes, which assists in the manufacturing process,” added analysts.

“Microstereolithography is an advanced and high precision SLA technology, which can be employed to develop microlattices, which consist of nanoscale features that comprise of great strength and stiffness along with ultralow density. The microlattice material developed using 3D printing is immensely light  and is also referred to as frozen smoke.These lightweight materials can endure a burden of at least 160,000 times their own weight,” said Lita Person, AMR analyst.

Hence, all the superior qualities stated by analysts are the main reason for its growing popularity and its applications in numerous processes such as space vehicles, automobiles, aircrafts, and others.