Thermally Post Curing SLA Parts For Higher Heat Deflection Temperatures

Some SLA resins can be thermally post cured in order to achieve higher heat deflection temperatures (HDT). Clean, UV post cured parts are placed in a thermal oven with sufficient support material (usually fine sand). The oven temperature is then ramped up to a specified temp and held at that temp for a given time. The oven is then turned off and the parts allowed to slowly cool. Cooling the parts too quickly can lead to thermal shock.

ln general, parts will become a bit stiffer and elongation at break will decrease after the thermal post cure process. Thermally post cured parts will also change color, turning slightly yellow / brown.  The picture below shows the color differences with parts built in Somos 10122 WaterClear Ultra before and after thermal post cure.  The process of thermal post curing parts can add an additional day to our normal speedy delivery.

A complete list of our resins and product data sheets can be found on our Downloads page. Resins that can be thermally post cured are called out. If you have any questions regarding thermal post cure, please contact one of our estimators, or your project manager.