Stereolithography (SLA) 3D Printing Service
vastly popular for its ability to produce high-accuracy, isotropic, and watertight prototypes and parts in a range of advanced materials with fine features and smooth 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 SLA 3D printing services
Find the Right 3D Printing Process
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.
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.
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.
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.
3D Materials
Aluminum Material description
ABS Material description
PEI Material Description
Rubber-like Plastics Material Description
Applications for SLA 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.
SLA 3D Printing for Industrial Applications
Space
Aerospace & Defense
Automotive
Oil & Gas
Maritime
Medical
High-Resolution, Accurate Parts without Tooling
Benefits of SLA 3D Printing
- Outstanding surface finsih and post processing options
- Tight tolerances and high detail precision
- Complex shapes with a high degree of precision
- High selection of engineered matierals
How Stereolithography Works
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.
Applications of Stereolithography
Available Finishes for SLA Parts
Learn more about our other capabilities
CNC Machining
Sheet Metal
3D Printing
Molding
Casting
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