MSLA material reference
What makes a basic resin behave?
A practical catalog of the properties used to describe an unfilled photopolymer resin, split into what you can know before printing—flow and curing—and what you can only measure after printing—strength, accuracy and long-term stability.
No universal values: “basic resin” is a material class, not a specification. Values depend on formulation, batch, printer, exposure, orientation, washing, post-cure and test method.
Before printing
What you know and choose before the print starts — how the liquid flows and how it cures under the screen.
Curing & exposure
How liquid resin responds to the printer’s light source.
- Critical exposure energymJ/cm²
- Penetration depthmm
- Cure depthmm
- UV absorption spectrumnm
- Cure conversion%
- Green strengthMPa
- Post-cure requirementtime / dose
- Oxygen inhibitionqualitative
Liquid & flow
Properties that govern mixing, recoating and release behavior.
- Dynamic viscositymPa·s
- Densityg/cm³
- Surface tensionmN/m
- Thixotropyindex
- Shear-thinning behaviorflow curve
- Bubble retentiontime
- Sedimentation ratemm/day
- Storage stabilitymonths
After printing
How the finished, washed and post-cured part actually behaves once it is off the plate.
Print performance
Practical behaviors observed as the part comes off the plate.
- Build-plate adhesionN
- Release-film peel forceN
- Support contact strengthN
- Large-section tolerancequalitative
- Hole-closing tendencymm error
- Elephant-foot tendencymm error
- Temperature window°C
- Layer separation tendencyfailure rate
Mechanical
Strength, stiffness and failure behavior after printing and post-curing.
- Ultimate tensile strengthMPa
- Interlayer shear strengthMPa
- Compressive strengthMPa
- Flexural strengthMPa
- Young’s modulusGPa
- Elongation at break%
- Impact strengthkJ/m²
- HardnessShore D
- Fracture toughnessMPa·√m
- Creep% / time
Dimensional & surface
Accuracy, shrinkage and the smallest reproducible geometry.
- Linear cure shrinkage%
- Volumetric shrinkage%
- Post-cure shrinkage%
- Minimum hole diametermm
- Minimum pin diametermm
- Minimum wall thicknessmm
- Surface roughnessµm Ra
- Warping tendencyqualitative
Thermal
Behavior as temperature changes during use or post-curing.
- Glass-transition temperature°C
- Heat-deflection temperature°C
- Thermal conductivityW/m·K
- Thermal expansionµm/m·K
- Specific heat capacityJ/kg·K
- Maximum service temperature°C
- Thermal degradation°C
- Flammabilityclassification
Optical
How light enters, scatters through and ages the material.
- Refractive indexdimensionless
- Visible transmission%
- Haze%
- Opacity%
- Spectral absorption1/mm
- Colour coordinatesCIELAB
- GlossGU
- Yellowing indexindex
Electrical & magnetic
Insulation and field-response properties; typically unreported for basic resin.
- Volume resistivityΩ·m
- Surface resistivityΩ/sq
- Relative permittivitydimensionless
- Dielectric loss tangentdimensionless
- Dielectric strengthkV/mm
- Magnetic permeabilityrelative
- Magnetic susceptibilitydimensionless
- Shielding effectivenessdB
Chemical & environmental
Resistance to moisture, chemicals and long-term exposure.
- Water absorption%
- Chemical resistancerating
- Solvent swelling%
- UV weatheringproperty retention
- Hydrolysis resistanceproperty retention
- Outgassing% mass
- Gas permeabilityBarrer
- Storage lifemonths
A value without context is not a material property.
Record these conditions alongside every claim, observation or measurement.
- Resin product and batch
- Blend ratio and basis
- Printer and screen condition
- Layer thickness and exposure
- Print orientation
- Wash and post-cure process
- Specimen geometry
- Test temperature and humidity
- Test standard and instrument
- Mean, variation and sample count