Fascination Technology Reusing Support Structures in Resin 3D Printing

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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In our section "Fascination Technology," we present impressive projects from research and development to designers every week. Today: how a new process helps to reuse support structures in resin 3D printing.

In resin 3D printing, support structures enable the production of complex geometries, overhangs, and very fine details that would otherwise collapse during the printing process. However, they also increase material consumption and must be manually removed. This can leave marks on the component surface and even cause damage if handled carelessly. Additionally, once removed, the support structures are discarded and cannot be reused.A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a process to mitigate these disadvantages. The process allows the same support structures to be reused over multiple printing processes. The scientists published their study on this in Additive Manufacturing Letters.
Instead of manufacturing new supports for each component and then disposing of them, they remain almost intact. This is achieved thanks to a thin layer of water-soluble resin that acts as a separation point between the support structure and the finished component.

This Is How the System Works

At the beginning is a set of pre-made support structures tailored to a specific component. After their production, they are mounted onto the build platform via a kinematic coupling. This is a highly precise mechanism that ensures they always occupy the exact same position.
Next, an automatically controlled needle applies a small amount of water-soluble, curable resin to the tip of each support structure. This resin is cured with ultraviolet light, forming a thin separation layer between the reusable support and the component. The support structure, therefore, never comes into direct contact with the component but is separated from it by a sacrificial layer that can later be removed without residue.Once the separation layer is prepared, the platform lowers into the resin tank, and the component is printed using conventional resin. Following the usual steps of cleaning and post-curing, the assembly is placed into an ultrasonic bath filled with water. There, the soluble separation layer dissolves and releases the component almost without mechanical force. Meanwhile, the support structures remain intact and are ready for the next print.

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Dragonfly Wings as a Test Object

To verify whether the support structures can actually be reused, the team printed four models in the shape of a dragonfly wing, a particularly delicate geometry due to its fine ribs. After each printing process, the component was removed by dissolving the separation layer in water, and the same support structures were prepared for the next cycle. Over the four printing cycles, the researchers observed no noticeable changes in the behavior of the support structures or the quality of the resulting components. Although small residues of cured resin gradually accumulated on the tips of some supports, these did not impair the system's performance during the experiments. However, the authors themselves acknowledge that further research is needed to determine how often the support structures can actually be reused before significant wear occurs.
One of the most remarkable findings of the study comes from a comparison with a commercially available 3D printer. The researchers printed the same component (the dragonfly wing) on a Formlabs Form 4 using standard settings for support structures. In this case, only 24 percent of the total resin volume was used for the actual component; the remaining 76 percent was consumed by support structures, which were subsequently discarded. With the new process, the support structures continue to serve their purpose, with only a small amount of water-soluble resin used for the separation layer. According to the team's calculations, this material accounts for about 5 percent of the total resin consumption per new printing cycle.

Technology still in the Experimental Stage

The MIT scientists themselves emphasize that the technology is still in an experimental phase. The process requires a photopolymerization printer specifically designed in a top-down configuration and equipped with an automated system capable of precisely applying the soluble resin to each individual support structure before printing begins. Therefore, the method cannot yet be directly implemented on most commercially available resin printers, which operate on a different configuration.Nevertheless, the study presents an interesting approach to overcoming one of the central obstacles to automating resin 3D printing. If future research succeeds in simplifying the process and extending the lifespan of the reusable support structures, material waste and manual effort could be significantly reduced—bringing resin-based additive manufacturing much closer to more automated production processes. 

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