Liquid resin 3D printing process 100 times faster than other techniques claim researchers

The method - which uses two lights to control where a curable liquid resin hardens and solidifies and where it stays fluid - has so far been used to print a variety of complex three dimensional demonstration shapes including a lattice, a toy boat and a block letter M.

The group claims that the technique overcomes the limitations of earlier so-called vat-printing efforts, which encountered problems with the resin solidifying on the window that the light shines through, stopping the print job just as it gets started.

One earlier solution to this problem was a window that lets oxygen through, which penetrates into the resin and halts the solidification near the window, leaving a film of fluid that will allow the newly printed surface to be pulled away.

But because this gap is only about as thick as a piece of transparent tape, the resin must be very runny to flow fast enough into the tiny gap between the newly solidified object and the window as the part is pulled up. This has limited vat printing to small, customised products that will be treated relatively gently, such as dental devices and shoe insoles.