3d Printing Technology Comparison Fdm Vs Sla

3d Printing Technology Comparison Fdm Vs Sla Fdm 3d printers are many people’s first introduction to 3d printing technology; they are the most common type of 3d printer in k 12 schools and even in many university makerspaces. in design, engineering, and manufacturing businesses, fdm printers are mostly relied upon for quick proof of concept models that can be agreed upon by design teams. Fdm produces parts by melting thermoplastic filament using an extrusion. but sls produced parts by sintering powdered filament using a high power laser. at the same time, sla produces parts through the uv curing process. the operation principles make the 3d printing technologies different from each other.

3d Printing Technology Comparison Fdm Vs Sla Vs Sls Stereolithography (sla) is a 3d printing technology that builds parts by polymerizing a liquid photopolymer resin with a uv laser one layer at a time. fused deposition modeling (fdm) is a 3d printing technology that builds parts by extruding a melted plastic onto the build plate one layer at a time. Modern fdm and sla 3d printing platforms feature optimized build speeds able to churn out prints rapidly with minimal compromise on quality. high end production sla units like the form 3b boast build speeds up to 20cm per hour at 25 micron axial resolution. equivalent desktop fdm options like the ultimaker s5 handle print speeds exceeding 24. The layer height options for sla start at 0.004 in. (0.102mm), which greatly reduces the appearance of layer lines compared to fdm whose builds typically start at layer heights of 0.008 in. 0.005 in. (0.2 0.12mm). when it comes to feature size, the precision of the uv laser is like drawing with a fine tipped artist’s pen. Fdm vs sla part comparison. fdm on the left, sla on the right. sla 3d printed parts on the other hand have far smoother surface finishes and are almost always more accurate in terms of both resolution and accuracy. stereolithography printer usually print with layer sizes of between 0.05mm and 0.01mm, noticeably better than most fdm 3d printers.