Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) 3D Printing Services
Digital light projection uses oxygen-permeable optics and programmable liquid resins to produce products with end-use durability, resolution, and surface finish.
- Quotes for up to 10,000 parts
- Lead times from 3 business days
- SLS, DMLS, SLA, DLS
- Rapid prototyping and full-scale production
- AS9100, ISO 13485, ISO 9001
- 5+ plastics & metals, 35+ colors
Professional DLS 3D printing services
We serve mechanical engineers to make custom DLS 3D printed parts for application in multiple industries: space, aerospace, automotive, defense, hardware startups, industrial automation, machinery, manufacturing, medical devices, oil & gas and robotics. Use SyncFab expert 3D printing services to take advantage of our network of professional 3D printing capabilities, which means our customers get both competitive prices and fast lead times. We specialise in four processes, bringing you everything you need for custom DLS 3D printing projects, from rapid prototyping to small production runs of metal 3D prints for industrial applications.
Find the Right 3D Printing Process
Carbon uses digital light projection, oxygen-permeable optics, and programmable liquid resins to produce products with end-use durability, resolution, and surface finish. This 3D printing technology is called Digital Light Synthesis™, or DLS for short. Another legacy term for the process is Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP). Along with Carbon’s custom liquid resins, DLS unlocks new business opportunities and product designs previously impossible, including mass customization and on-demand inventory of end-use products.
Carbon bridges, and sometimes substitutes, for processes like Urethane Casting and Injection Molding service production, because the materials are urethane-based or epoxy-based, giving excellent mechanical properties. There are even elastomer and silicone resins that outperform most additive manufactured rubber-like materials.
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a powerful 3D printing technology that produces highly accurate and durable parts that are capable of being used directly in end-use, low-volume production, or for rapid prototyping.
An additive manufacturing layer technology, SLS involves the use of a high power laser (for example, a carbon dioxide laser) to fuse small particles of plastic powders into a mass that has a desired three-dimensional shape. The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3-D digital description of the part (for example from a CAD file or scan data) on the surface of a powder bed. After each cross-section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one layer thickness, a new layer of material is applied on top, and the process is repeated until the part is completed.
Download the SLS Design Guide.
SLA is an additive manufacturing process that uses ultraviolet (UV) light on a vat of liquid photopolymer resin to selectively solidify part features, building the part layer by layer. The UV light continues this process through the entire vat of resin, selectively curing and solidifying the resin to match the design of the CAD file. Structural supports are created during the pre-build setup process and manually removed after the print is completed. The parts are then washed in a solvent solution to remove uncured resin, and then receive a final post-cure in a UV light oven.
SLA offers higher resolution printing than many other 3D printing technologies, allowing customers to print parts with fine details and surface finishes. SLA 3D printing is a highly-versatile platform for making custom parts in prototype and production settings, often acting as a stand-in for injection molded parts.
Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is a metal 3D printing technology used to build metal parts with exceptional mechanical properties and precision. Our Manufacturing Supplier Network gives you massive on-demand production capacity with a wide range of DMLS machines and high-performance materials.
Designers often chose DMLS for its ability to produce all-in-one metal assemblies and highly precise metal parts with complex features like internal supports and lattices. DMLS does not have upfront setup or tooling costs, making it an affordable option for fully dense metal parts. With DMLS’s affordability, speed, and superior design freedoms, companies and creators can build metal designs they never thought possible.
3D Materials
Aluminum Material description
ABS Material description
PEI Material Description
Rubber-like Plastics Material Description
Applications for DLS 3D Printing
Concept Models
The speed and versatility of 3D Printing lets product developers create physical snapshots of their designs through the iterative process.
Tooling Parts
3D Printing can be used to create fully-functional prototypes, complete with moving parts, as well as all-in-one assemblies.
Production Parts
The high accuracy and consistency of 3D Printing makes it an ideal way to build large quantities of discrete or customized parts.
DLS 3D Printing for Industrial Applications
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Space
Aerospace & Defense
Automotive
Oil & Gas
Maritime
Medical
Carbon DLS™ Technology Basics
What Differentiates DLS
What differentiates DLS from similar processes like Stereolithography (SLA) or PolyJet 3D prints is that the resin has a secondary thermal step which activates dormant epoxies or urethanes, making parts much stronger than UV-curing alone. Additionally, the DLS process is continuous, without stopping layer-by-layer as with most additive manufacturing. This gives the parts isotropic properties, meaning that strength is even regardless of orientation. This is a significant advantage over processes like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), where Z-direction features can be much weaker than similar features built in the XY-direction.
Production-Grade Parts Without Tooling
DLS uses digital light projection, oxygen-permeable optics, and programmable liquid resins to produce products with end-use durability, resolution, and surface finish. This technology, along with DLS custom liquid resins, unlocks new business opportunities and product designs previously impossible, including mass customization and on-demand inventory.
Available Finishes for DLS Parts
Learn more about our other capabilities
CNC Machining
Sheet Metal
3D Printing
Molding
Casting
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