Part strength analysis of Shell Assisted Layer Manufacturing (SALM)

Shell Assisted Layered Manufacturing (SALM) is a new additive process for rapid prototyping applications. The process involves the deposition of ultra violet curable resin layers into pre-fabricated shell by Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) which represents the thickness and the boundary of the selected layer of the geometry to be made. This paper analyses the major factors that can influence the part strength and the structural integrity of SALM fabricated parts. Tensile tests on both the bulk material and the SALM fabricated specimens to evaluate the part strength and the Poisson’s ratio was determined using strain gauge measurements. Additionally, inter-layer adhesion between successive layers was examined under different controlled conditions. These experiments confirmed the anisotropic behaviour of SALM parts. Analyses of the bulk material properties, the adhesion strength between consecutive layers and layer orientation dependence for the final parts, made without the shell, have enabled the anisotropic behaviour of the SALM parts to be characterized.