DLP printers

DLP

— a type of 3D printing based on the use of photopolymers – liquid substances that harden when exposed to bright light. Printing with such a printer is carried out layer by layer, using a container filled with photopolymer and a platform that can move up and down. Printing begins with the platform being immersed in liquid to the thickness of this layer, then an LED projector illuminates the outline of this layer on the surface, causing the material to harden; after this, the platform is immersed to the depth of another layer and the cycle is repeated until the product is ready. (The opposite movement of the platform is also possible – from bottom to top; this option has no fundamental differences).

In fact, DLP is a simplified version of laser stereolithography SLA (see the relevant paragraph): instead of a laser emitter, in this case an LED projector is used. This made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of printers while maintaining the main advantages of photopolymer 3D printing – high accuracy, good speed and a variety of materials in terms of colours and properties. The low prevalence of this technology is mainly due to the fact that it appeared relatively recently; In addition, it is worth recalling that photopolymers are significantly more expensive than thermoplastics for FDM/FFF and other similar printing technologies.