DENTAL TECHNOLOGY DIGITAL
3D PRINTING OF MODELS FOR THERMOFORMING ALIGNERS USING THE SOLLAB 370
MOVING DLP TECHNOLOGY WITH FULL HD PROJECTOR
INTRODUCTION Over the past few years, Digital Light Processing (DLP) turned out to be the best 3D printing method when it comes to digital dental technology due to its precise and - compared to the SLA method - very fast printing results. These impressive advantages of DLP technology are based on the fact that instead of a laser (SLA method); a DLP projector is used to cure the resin. Therefore, the projector is the heart of the DLP 3D printer and its resolution determines the accuracy of the results and the size of the building area. A smaller pixel size usually means higher accuracy, but smaller building area. However, especially for bigger dental laboratories, both factors are crucial.
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The new SolLab 370 from W2P Engineering has been designed as a unique solution for the laboratory sector. The desktop device offers both, a high precision, and a large building area. This 3D printer integrates the full HD projector (1080p) into the existing moving DLP technology and achieves the best possible results by moving the full HD projector in the printer and thereby triple exposing the building area.
EFFICIENT MATERIAL VAT SYSTEM
Besides the projector, the material vat also plays a significant role in the printing process. The transparent material vat contains the photosensitive resin which is being cured layer upon layer by the light from the projector positioned below the vat. Due to the large building area, the SolLab 370 requires an extremely stable vat, yet the peel-off forces must be kept as low as possible to avoid the breakage of the delicate layers when being pulled off the vat. The PowerVat meets these requirements perfectly since it combines rigidity with a certain flexibility. The rigidity
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is guaranteed by a glass plate with an aluminum frame and the anti-sticking film on top of the glass bottom provides the flexibility. The film yields slightly when the layers are being peeled off which ensures smooth separation. Although functionality and the reliability of a stable printing process were the top priorities in the development of the PowerVat, at the same time there was a strive for an increase in efficiency. As an ideal solution considering all these aspects, firstly the extremely durable aluminum frame with glass plate was chosen to avoid waste, and secondly the running costs are kept on a minimum, as only the film must be replaced after approx. 300 print jobs. In only one print job, no less than 12 models with 100μ can be produced within 30 to 40 minutes in horizontal position. Print file preparation is performed on Pyramis from CIMSystems or NetFabb.
