Other RP printing methods comparasion

Selective laser sintering is similar to SLA. It uses a laser, but instead of photosensitive liquid, the laser heats a bed of thermoplastic powder.

Stereolithography is the oldest and one of the most common methods for printing. It prints by using either one or two lasers focused at a pool of photosensitive liquid. When the laser(s) focus on one point at the top of the pool, the liquid solidifies.

FDM is gaining ground in the printing world. It is arguably the most “printer-like” of all methods; it consists of a moving bed (Z-axis) and a print head (X-axis and Y-axis). The print head has a heating element in it; thermoplastic is forced into the print head, melts, and is squeezed out, not unlike toothpaste.

LOM uses a laser, but the material and process greatly differ from SLA or SLS. It is based on the idea of laminating material; that is, building up a model sheet by sheet with adhesive in between each sheet.

POLYJET technology drives the precision inside the Eden333 from Stratasys. Instead of the single head in other FDM machines, eight jetting heads simultaneously deposit identical amounts of photopolymer on the build tray with each pass along an X-axis.

Inkjet printing is almost identical to FDM, however the plastic is held in a liquid state inside of the machine before being dispensed.

JP printing is identical to InkJet printing, but instead of using thermoplastic, it dispenses photosensitive liquid.

DMLS is identical to SLS, except that the machine sinters metal powder instead of plastic powder. The model does not require a finishing stage.