Analysis of Morphology and Electrical Insulation of 3D Printing Parts

Abstract

3D printing technology is a rapid prototyping technology which is in the process of fast development. It has the advantages of no mold requirement, high precision and high shape controllability. To apply 3D printing in the field of electric engineering, it is necessary to understand the insulating properties and the microstructure of the printing parts. In this paper, several commonly used 3D printing techniques are taken into consideration, including stereolithography apparatus (SLA), fused deposition modeling (FDM), and selective laser sintering (SLS). Representative materials for these 3D printing process are selected, i.e. High Temp resin for SLA, PLA and ABS for FDM and PA2200 for SLS. The surface and interior morphology of the 3D printing parts were characterized, then the dielectric parameters and electrical withstanding ability of the four materials were tested. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation was made on whether the 3D printing techniques were suitable for electrical insulation. The test results showed that, SLA process parts have the best morphology feature, and there are defects in FDM and SLS process parts. The dielectric parameters of the four materials meet the requirements as insulating materials, and the breakdown strength are all above 30 kV/mm. It can be said that the development of 3D printing technology in the field of electrical engineering has high feasibility, and different processes and materials have their own suitable applications.