Resin recoating thickness in stereolithography

The control of the resin recoating thickness is discussed and the key influencing factors on the thickness are verified both theoretically and experimentally. The factors include blade spacing, pressure drop in the resin flowing path, and recoating speed. Results show that the recoating speed and resin viscosity have little influence on the thickness owing to has the most important influence on the recoating process, and the thickness is about a half of the spacing the negligible pressure drop. The blade spacing value under the condition that the spacing is smaller than 10 times of the recoating thickness. At the same time, the fluctuation thickness of the recoating layer influences the recoating quality and fabricating process. The blade spacing is then optimatized according to experimental results, making the square sum of the thickness error smallest.