Water-Soluble Sacrificial Portfolio (IM-WS) for SLA, DLP and LCD

Abstract

Indirect additive manufacturing addresses a structural limitation of direct 3D printing: enclosed channels, undercuts and intertwined cavities cannot be deposited directly. The 3Dresyns® IM-WS family of water-removable sacrificial photopolymers prints a temporary tool by SLA, DLP or LCD vat photopolymerisation and is removed in water once the part has been cast or injected around it. Five mechanical-thermal routes span the design space, from high-HDT sacrificial moulds for ceramic and metal injection moulding to soft compliant mandrels for elastomeric cast geometries. The realised water-removal behaviour is governed not only by formulation chemistry but by the coupling between formulation and photopolymerisation kinetics: low-irradiance cure preserves the dissolution pathway, while high-irradiance cure shifts the realised behaviour toward swelling-only. Five documented routes cover the full design envelope: 3Dresyn IM-HDT-WS, IM-UHR-WS, IM-UHT-WS, IM-HT-WS and IM-SF-WS. Calibration-based methodology applies: formulation sets the intrinsic post-cure target, while printer irradiance and power-time decomposition determine realised behaviour. Cleaning Fluid WS1 Bio and WS2 Bio may support washing or hydrophobic post-cure immersion workflows where applicable.