How to increase transmissivity of FDM parts (part translucency)

GrabCAD Tutorials

22 Apr, 2016 06:54 PM

To increase transmissivity of FDM parts:

1. Step 1:

   STEP 1:
   Make part with ABSi (air gap: 0.004 inchs/0.1 mm).

2. Step 2:

   STEP 2:
   Infiltrate part in transparent epoxy resin in proper mixing rate of main resin and hardener.

3. Step 3:

   STEP 3:
   Remove the extra epoxy resin on the surface with tools like a putty remover.

4. Step 4:

   STEP 4:
   Dry the part in the oven (30-35C) for 15-20 minutes and continuously dry it at
   normal temperature until it dries perfectly.

   Time required for this process depends on part shape. The sample part at left takes 3-4 hours to dry completely.

5. Step 5:

   After this process transmissivity of FDM part increased from 5% to 39% and part strength is about the same as the original part. As a result we can get a durable ABS part with more than a 39% transmissivity increase.