Effect of light attenuation on polymerization of ceramic suspensions for stereolithography

Abstract

Weak bonding strength between interlayers can seriously affect the quality of ceramic parts manufactured by stereolithography. Therefore, the possibility of using chemical bonds to strengthen the adhesion within these parts and the extent to which may be effective are of interest. Thus, a multi-exposure model was built to illustrate the state of this interface. The secondary conversion of a cured layer defined as conversion rate increment caused by decayed ultraviolet (UV) light in a subsequent exposure was selected to represent the extent of a chemical bond. The level of UV light attenuation occurred when travelling through a suspension layer was determined using the Attenuation Law. When decayed light illuminated a cured layer, it underwent further photopolymerization, which was detected by temperature change. The secondary conversion was affected by parameters including the incident energy dose and the propagating length. Optimization of these parameters helped to achieve higher chemical bond ratio.