A cone-shaped part is to be fabricated using stereolithography. The radius of the cone at its base is 35 mm, and its height is 50 mm. To minimize the staircase effect, the layer thickness is 0.05 mm. The diameter of the laser beam is 0.22 mm, and the beam is moved across the surface of the photopolymer at a velocity of 900 mm/s.

Required:

Compute an estimate for the time required to build the part, if 15 seconds are lost each layer to lower the height of the platform that holds the part. Neglect post-curing time. The setup time for the job is 25 minutes.

To estimate the stereolithography build time for a cone-shaped part, we calculate the total number of layers (1000), the time lost for lowering the platform (15000 s), and include the setup time (1500 s) for a total estimate of 16500 seconds.

Explanation:

To estimate the time required to build a cone-shaped part using stereolithography, we need to take into account the radius (35 mm), height (50 mm), layer thickness (0.05 mm), and the time lost to lower the height of the platform (15 s per layer). We could ignore the laser beam diameter and velocity in this calculation, as they are not necessary for estimating the build time directly. However, they are indeed relevant if we were to compute the scan time needed for each layer.

The total number of layers needed can be calculated by dividing the height of the cone by the layer thickness: total layers = height / layer thickness, which results in 50 mm / 0.05 mm = 1000 layers. Each layer incurs a time penalty for lowering the platform, so the total time lost to this process is 15 s per layer imes 1000 layers = 15000 s.

The setup time for the job, given as 25 minutes, must also be included. Converting 25 minutes into seconds gives us: 25 minutes imes 60 seconds/minute = 1500 seconds. Therefore, the total build time estimate, without considering laser scanning and curing time, would be the sum of both time components: 15000 s + 1500 s = 16500 s.

To estimate the time to build a cone-shaped part using stereolithography, calculate the number of layers, time lost per layer, and total setup time.

The time required to build the part can be estimated by calculating the number of layers and considering the time lost per layer. First, we determine the number of layers in the cone-shaped part by dividing the total height by the layer thickness. Then, we account for the time lost per layer spent on lowering the platform. Finally, we factor in the setup time and calculate the total time.