Summary Some users believe they have used ultrasonic technology successfully. This fact does not obviate the foregoing points. Damage in the majority of cases has escaped notice only because customers have never had anything to compare it to. Sometimes the geometry of their models is simple enough to produce process times that are thought to be acceptable. White streaks caused from delamination are thought to be merely cosmetic. Models produced for functional testing may be either not dependent on the strength of the material or are thought to have failed because of poor design. Ultimately, failure speaks louder than success and failure is what users of ultrasonic cleaning are setting themselves up for. Eventually they will have to explain to someone why their model or part can't be salvaged. Ultrasonic tanks vary widely; and the effects of ultrasonic emissions on FDM parts are variable depending on the number and geometry of the parts themselves. These variations, compounded, mean that whenever a customer uses an ultrasonic tank for FDM post-processing they have lost control over their process. Optimal FDM performance in general, and support removal specifically, requires more precise process control than ultrasonic systems can provide. Even the limited use of ultrasonic cleaning by clients whose use parameters seem compatible is a potential risk because those parameters will change. The flexibility of FDM is the primary reason they are users in the first place. Ultrasonic post-processing ultimately limits the functionality of the Dimension FDM system and for that reason should be phased out. Steve Green Product Development Manager PM Technologies sgreen@pm3tech.com Voice: 763-425-1383 ext.102 << Back    Forward >> Back to CleanStation Info Home  |  ©2002 PM Technologies. All Rights Reserved.  |  Site Map Cleanstation® SRSTM, U.S. Patent No. 7,546,841