FDM vs SLA vs SLS

FDM printing technology is one of the most popular and complex technologies when it comes to designing and preparing files for printing. Among all its limitations, the most important is the need to use supports and the impossibility of obtaining mechanical isotropy. In addition, since you cannot deposit the molten material in the air, it is not possible to directly print bridges or cantilevers, so it is necessary to add support structures.

SLA printing technology is the second most widely used 3D printing technology. Unlike FDM technology, it exposes layer by layer a vat of liquid resin that selectively hardens using a beam of ultraviolet light. Among its advantages, it stands out its high resolution and the excellent surface finish achievable through 3D printing in SLA.

SLS printing technology is probably what we serve most frequently in industrial environments. It consists of using a laser scanning system, which, through layers of powdered material, generates the geometry of the piece. One of the main advantages of ordering parts in SLS is that it gives you the possibility to print without supports, making the design conditions much lower and simplifying the post-processing of the parts. Another important advantage is that the parts printed with this technology are dense and have a high isotropy, making it an ideal technology for the production of functional prototypes.