Advantages of 3D Printing Clear Materials

We're seeing transparent 3D-printed parts in a variety of industries, from lampshades to beverage bottles to packaging. No other manufacturing process can develop and produce clear components for products more cost-effectively than 3D printing, resulting in objects with complex designs and amazing material clarity.

Time and cost effectiveness
Implementing transparent 3D-printed parts can be challenging if you don't have the right materials and technology. Resin-based 3D printing methods can provide cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing results.

Clear 3D printed parts LED
Transparent 3D-printed materials also offer faster solutions for hearing aid manufacturers. EnvisionTEC's DLP technology and transparent materials save time for post-processing and finishing because they were designed for a polished, ready-to-wear appearance. Phonak and GN Sound are using these technologies, and EnvisionTEC reports a production rate of 65 earmuffs per hour.

3D printed transparent hearing AIDS
Transparent 3D printing involves not only cheaper and faster workflows, but also improving the actual product in development. One example is Orora, a glass bottle supplier to James Boag's Premium Lager in Australia. The company wants to redesign their bottles to make them look newer and more attractive.Using 3D Systems' SLA technology, they were able to achieve the same sharpness and tone as the iconic glass exterior. This is necessary because the 3D-printed exterior model will eventually be filled with liquid, fitted with tags and hats, and then put into a store for monitoring. Feedback from these in-store trials indicated that the new design was well received and was cleared for production.

Transparent 3D-printed colored plastic bottles
In particular, 3D printed transparent components can well mimic the appearance of glass and acrylic. This is very useful when creating parts that have a different geometry than the glass manufacturing method allows. Another advantage is to create an object that looks like glass but has different properties, such as not being breakable. This frees manufacturers from sacrificing product quality for better aesthetic features.

Complex transparent components and tools
3D printing allows for a variety of geometric shapes that other forms of manufacturing might find tedious or even impossible. In addition, clear components can be critical for some electrical or engineering components, as it can be useful to be able to see how various components are doing. A good example comes from the engineers in Parker Hannifin's filtering department, who applied SLAs to transparent components, allowing them to view the machine unobstructed.

3D printed transparent parts allow better monitoring of products
Similarly, the production of surgical guides and anatomical models has found additive manufacturing to be a convenient tool. In general, these types of products must be transparent or (even trickier) partially transparent. 3D printing can easily triumph in these areas, separating parts of an object into different colors or materials.

3D printed transparent anatomical model
These are useful when sketching different parts of an anatomical model, each part shown in different hues to facilitate differentiation. As far as surgical guides are concerned, they can be a convenient teaching tool for better monitoring of medical conditions. Transparent 3D printing is used in digital Dentistry to create bit guides for visual confirmation that they sit as expected.

Not only has 3D printing piqued the interest of major manufacturers in this regard, but it has also brought the production of such medical devices to in-house manufacturing. In-house production can be ten times cheaper than larger producers, with negligible disadvantages in terms of quality differences.