Surface Finishing Techniques For Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototype models produced from stereolithography have a relatively poor surface finish which in many cases is unacceptable and requires rectifying. Although a prototype can be rapidly manufactured, manual finishing smooths the part which can be a long and tedious process leading to parts that are inaccurate and poorly defined. A variety of surface finishing techniques have been identified for imparting a smooth surface to stereolithography resin parts. Initial results have shown that the barrel tumbling process may be suitable for finishing components with improvements in surface roughness values of 70%-80% although the time to process is long.