3D Printing’s Silver Bullet

By Frank Rovella
Last week I wrote about a new process for the 3D printing of circuits, it was a big story with many implications. However; news reached me today that will make it seem like a side note in 3D printing development. This week, Redwood City, CA-based Carbon3D unveiled a new 3D printing technology called “Continuous Liquid Interface Production” or “CLIP” that will finally fulfill the promise that 3D printing has held since its inception. Until recently 3D printing had been relegated to short-run production and prototypes. It's slow cycle times, and depending on the process, not so great surface finishes have been the major stumbling blocks to widespread adoption. This has kept processes such as SLA, SLS, Polyjet, and many others at the periphery of large scale manufacturing. The big difference with CLIP is that it's a totally new process and does not resemble additive manufacturing as we know it.

When comparing CLIP to standard 3D printing processes keep in mind that current methods are basically 2D printing. Layer after layer stacked on each other to create a three-dimensional object.  With layers come uneven surfaces, one of the most striking advantages of the CLIP process can be seen in the image on the right. CLIP can produce surface finishes that no other 3D technology can match but, what is really amazing is the speed.  Depending on process and materials, CLIP provides cycle times that are 25 to 100 times faster than standard 3D printing technology. In addition, it is also designed to be used with polymeric materials that open the doors to almost limitless possibilities.

The CLIP printing process starts with a pool of UV curable resin. The print head drops into the pool and begins projecting UV light through a special window into the resin, forming the base and subsequently the entire object.  As the form builds, the head raises in conjunction with object growth. UV light makes this all happen, but the window that it transmits through has to be completely transparent to the UV rays and permeable to oxygen, similar to a contact lens. The system controls the oxygen flow through the window creating a dead zone in the adjacent resin pool.  The dead zone is just tenths of a micron thick which delivers incredible resolution. The image of the part being printed is projected through the window, much the same as a movie is projected and creates the item from the bottom up.

This all sounds like a post grads project at MIT but its real and ready for prime time. In fact, Carbon3D just announced that they have raised $40 million to commercialize the technology, too bad they are still privately held. How this technology changes the landscape of plastics manufacturing and 3D printing is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for sure; we’ll be hearing a lot more CLIP 3D printing technology in the coming years.