Open Material Workflows
Open material workflows provide flexibility, but reliable results require controlled calibration.
Open material workflows give the user direct control over material selection and the processing parameters required to qualify a resin on a compatible printer. That flexibility is valuable because printing parameters are machine- and workflow-dependent rather than universally transferable.
Why use an open material workflow?
Material and process flexibility
Printers that provide access to exposure, layer settings and other relevant process parameters allow third-party materials to be implemented through controlled qualification rather than through a fixed proprietary material profile.
This makes it possible to select materials according to the required mechanical, thermal, optical, electrical, biomedical or process behaviour and then adapt the printing workflow to the selected material.
Printer-specific control
The same resin cannot be expected to use identical settings on every printer. Effective exposure depends on printer optics, wavelength, irradiance, formulation response, layer thickness and exposure strategy.
Open control therefore does not eliminate calibration. It makes structured calibration possible.
Why calibration is required
Printing parameters are workflow-dependent
Reliable implementation requires qualification of the complete workflow, including printer, wavelength, irradiance, exposure strategy, layer thickness, geometry, orientation, cleaning and post-curing.
Generic parameter sets can provide starting points, but they should not be treated as universally transferable settings.
Curing Rate Control
The 3Dresyns Curing Rate Control System, CRT, provides a structured framework for relating delivered exposure to photopolymer curing behaviour under controlled optical conditions.
Depending on the CRT option, the system may include curing-rate information and working-curve parameters such as critical exposure, Ec, and penetration depth, Dp. These data support exposure selection but do not replace printer-specific validation or dimensional verification.
Dimensional calibration
Exposure calibration alone is not sufficient to establish dimensional accuracy. Reliable vat photopolymerisation also requires verification of dimensional behaviour in X, Y and Z.
The 3Dresyns structured calibration methodology combines curing analysis with dedicated calibration geometries to evaluate process fidelity and dimensional control.
The practical workflow
Select the material according to the application, establish the relevant printer and optical conditions, calibrate curing behaviour, verify dimensional response, and then qualify the complete printing, cleaning and post-curing workflow.
Open does not mean uncontrolled
The objective of an open material workflow is not to remove process control. It is to give the user access to the variables required to establish that control for the actual printer, resin and application.