Which Rapid Prototyping process should you use?
Below is a comparison chart showing the capabilities of some common rapid prototyping processes used for plastics: Objet Polyjet, SLA (stereolithography), FDM (fused deposition modeling), SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), and ZCorp. This is to be used as a guide to pick the right material and process to make your model/prototype in the most effective way. This chart is to relfect parts coming off of the machine with no post processing.
| |
Objet Polyjet |
FDM |
SLA |
SLS |
ZCorp |
| Tolerance |
Good |
Fair |
Good |
Fair |
Fair |
| Surface Finish |
Good |
Fair |
Good |
Fair |
Fair |
| Function |
Good |
Good |
Fair |
Good |
Poor |
| Dual Material |
Excellent |
N/A |
N/A |
NA |
N/A |
| Soft Durometer |
Excellent |
N/A |
Fair |
Fair |
N/A |
| Transparent |
Good |
N/A |
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
| Overmolding |
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Multi-Color |
Fair |
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
Excellent |
| Heat Deflection (no post processing) |
Fair/Good
154 F |
Excellent
372 F |
Good
298 F
|
Excellent
381 F |
Good
239 F |
| Build Layer Thickness |
.0006" - .001" |
.005"-.013" |
.001" - .006"
|
.004" - .006" |
.004" |
If you have any other questions about which 3D printing process to use, please contact us at 651-653-0400 or email us: parts@vistatek.com
