Comparison of Additive Manufacturing techniques regarding mechanical and optical properties

Additive Manufacturing has continually been implemented in several industries and scientific fields for over a decade. The manufactured components serve mechanical, electrical and optical applications and they can be fabricated using a vast range of techniques. Consequently the question arises, whether there are more suitable techniques to reach specific properties and how these techniques can be determined. This paper investigates the possibilities of different Additive Manufacturing techniques and compares them regarding various properties. In order to manufacture and assemble optomechanical systems a selection of suitable techniques, like SLA, FDM or SLS, is given. To establish a hybrid manufacturing system, the mechanical and optical properties of the techniques are analysed. For a comparison the mechanical properties, like tensile strength or hardness, as well as the optical properties, like transparency, are recorded. According to the measured values an evaluation for the best fitting manufacturing technique is performed, suggesting a ranking concerning the fabrication of components with specific properties.