The properties of an UV curable support material pre-polymer for three dimensional printing

Abstract

An ultraviolet(UV) curable support material pre-polymer for three dimensional printing was prepared based on the synergistic effect between PEO-PPO-PEO tri-block copolymer( F127) and polyethylene glycol (400) di-acrylate(SR344). The effects of jetting conditions, thermal stability, curing time, mechanical properties and shrinking rate on printing models were studied. The situation of removing support material from build model was investigated after building progress was completed. The experimental result shows that when F127 is 6.0wt%, SR344 is 20.0wt%, 4-Methoxy phenol is 0.15wt% and Irgacure 2959 is 1.5wt%, the support material pre-polymer could be jetted out from the nozzles smoothly during building up of three dimensional printing models at 50–55 °C. In addition, the support material could be removed easily from building model without spoiling the model; furthermore, the forming precision of building model is improved.