We had a close look at 3D Systems’ new PSLA 270 resin 3D printing system.
Resin 3D printing has been around for a very long time. In fact, 3D Systems was the company that first developed the SLA technology back in the 1980s. Since then, there have been a variety of resin 3D printing processes invented, and now it’s quite popular.
With the new PSLA 270, 3D Systems has developed yet another approach to resin 3D printing, and it has quite a few very intriguing features.
PSLA 270 Design
How is the PSLA 270 different? Let’s take a look at their system diagram here:
Unlike most resin 3D printers that project from the bottom, the PSLA 270 projects down from the top. In fact, it doesn’t even use a laser: instead, there is a DLP projector that is able to solidify an entire layer all at once.
As the print proceeds, the print plate moves downward, and a recoater arm sweeps across to ensure there’s some resin on the top layer. Note that there is no peeling process here, as is usually the case for bottom-up resin 3D printers.
This means that the part will undergo no mechanical stress at all during printing. That should enable the ability to 3D print very delicate objects without issue on the PSLA 270. It also means that parts should be dimensionally accurate with no deformation due to stress.
The build volume on the PSLA 270 is a healthy 242 x 265 x 300 mm build volume. The machine also includes a huge 9L resin bottle at the bottom, where it’s pumped up to the print chamber. That means the PSLA 270 is ready for production: completed jobs are easily removed with a magnetically attached plate, and a subsequent job can be quickly started.
PSLA 270 Materials
Material handling is simplified on the PSLA 270 by means of a drawer system. It’s easy to swap materials without making a mess. However, if you somehow do, the interior of the machine is made from stainless steel panels that are very easy to clean.
For materials, 3D Systems told us there are ten Figure 4 materials currently supported by the PSLA 270, and I got the impression there were more to come. They said that rubber-like materials are not supported on the device, however.
The Figure 4 material sets are quite interesting, as 3D Systems apparently has spent considerable time engineering them to be far more durable out in the environment. They say they have stabilized their standard materials for up to eight years of use indoors.
PSLA 270 Exterior
There was some interesting thinking done when designing the exterior of the PSLA 270. The machine is designed to fit through a 30” standard door frame, which is something many other 3D printer manufacturers seem to ignore. While this might not affect you, it definitely does for some, and that could make the PSLA 270 a good option.
In the images, you’ll see the PSLA 270’s control panel is on the right-hand side. It turns out that it is possible to flip this arrangement and put it on the left side if that is required. This could be quite convenient for some installations.
They’ve also designed the sides to be removable for robotic access. This would be useful if in the future an automation system was developed for handling completed print jobs.
PSLA 270 Quality
Part quality seems to be awesome. We inspected a couple of printed parts, right off the printer, and found the surfaces to be quite smooth, and even the support attach points were minimal.
Finally, we asked about the speed of the device. Since it is DLP-based, it prints at a constant vertical speed, regardless of the model’s geometry. With 3D Systems’ standard materials printing with 0.1mm layers, the PSLA 270 can hit 38mm per hour.
The PSLA 270 is quite a unique 3D printer, one using approaches we haven’t seen previously. Its unique design and print capabilities are going to be ideal for some customers.
Via 3D Systems
