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In this lab, you will learn about additive manufacturing and, most importantly, how to operate the Formlabs SLA 3D printer in our lab. By the end of this session, you will understand the basic operations and be able to use the printer under supervision.

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Revision of Some AM Technology

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This section covers the AM technologies available in our lab that you may use for your course project.

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Material Extrusion

Vat Photopolymerization (What we will focus on in this lab)

• Stereolithography (SLA)
  • Traditional SLA printers used large vats of liquid resin with a laser above to cure each layer. These systems were expensive and complex, limiting their use to large companies. In 2011, Formlabs introduced inverted SLA printing with Form 1, where a laser cures resin through a transparent-bottomed tank. This allows for compact desktop printers using minimal resin.
• Digital Light Processing (DLP)
  • DLP 3D printing uses a light projector to cure liquid resin layer by layer. The projector uses micromirrors on a semiconductor chip, with each mirror representing a single voxel. The resolution depends on the number of mirrors and build area size.

Material Jetting (MJ)

Revision on CAD File Formats and g-code

Revision on slicer

A slicer is a crucial software tool in 3D printing that converts 3D models (typically in STL, OBJ, or other 3D file formats) into specific instructions that a 3D printer can understand and execute. The name "slicer" comes from its primary function: it virtually slices the 3D model into many horizontal layers and generates a set of commands (G-code) that tell the printer exactly how to build each layer.

Key functions of a slicer include:

• Converting 3D models into printable layers
• Calculating optimal print paths and material usage
• Generating support structures where needed
• Adjusting print settings like temperature, speed, and layer height
• Estimating print time and material consumption

The slicer software allows users to customize various parameters that affect print quality, strength, speed, and material usage, making it an essential tool in the 3D printing workflow.

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In this lab, we will mainly focus on using Bambu Studio since we are going to use the FormLab printers in the lab.

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Introduction to 3D Printing Software with PreForm