| HS Code | 392773 |
| Material Type | Photopolymer resin |
| Form | Liquid |
| Color Hc | Opaque gray |
| Color Ar | Translucent amber |
| Viscosity | 250 cps at 30°C |
| Density | 1.12 g/cm³ |
| Tensile Strength | 48 MPa |
| Tensile Modulus | 2580 MPa |
| Elongation At Break | 10% |
| Flexural Strength | 75 MPa |
| Flexural Modulus | 2300 MPa |
| Hardness | 82 Shore D |
| Heat Deflection Temperature | 58°C at 0.45 MPa |
| Glass Transition Temperature | 70°C |
| Ash Content | <0.1% |
| Layer Thickness | 0.05–0.15 mm |
| Critical Exposure | 10 mJ/cm² |
| Penetration Depth | 0.15 mm |
As an accredited 3D Systems Accura accuGen™ HC and Ar Plastic for the SLA 500 System factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
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In ISO 13485:2016-certified hearing instrument production, Accura accuGen™ HC for the SLA 500 system is charged into the vat as a 100 % as-supplied single-component photopolymer; the addition ratio of external reactive diluent is 0.0 %, and vat replenishment is triggered when the liquid level reaches 85 % of nominal fill volume, with recovered vat resin limited to 15 % by volume to control viscosity drift. Finished-device documentation for behind-the-ear shells, in-the-ear faceplates, completely-in-canal housings, and slim-tube adapters references ISO 10993-1:2018 for biological evaluation planning, ISO 10993-5:2009 for MEM elution cytotoxicity, and ISO 10993-10:2021 for skin sensitisation and irritation, with the cured resin tested after the same post-cure route used on production builds. The downstream sequence includes 0.1 mm layer polymerisation at the SLA 500’s 355 nm UV laser setting, support removal under magnification, two-stage washing in 99.9 % isopropanol for 8–12 min, and post-cure in a UV chamber at 60 °C for 30–60 min depending on wall section; hand-polishing of the canal tip and faceplate perimeter is then completed with 5 µm diamond paste to remove stair-step topography. In production batches, the main processing bottleneck is residue retention inside 0.4 mm-to-0.8 mm wall cavities, which requires negative-pressure draining during the first wash rather than simple immersion. The relevant production environment is kept below 60 % RH; above this threshold, washed parts are dried under forced hot air at 40 °C for 20 min before post-cure to prevent surface tack and dimensional drift.
| Assessment route | Test standard | Production control point |
|---|---|---|
| Cytotoxicity | ISO 10993-5:2009 | MEM elution at 37 °C for 24 h; grade ≤2 |
| Skin sensitisation | ISO 10993-10:2021 | LLNA or equivalent; stimulation index ≤3 |
| Irritation | ISO 10993-23:2021 | 4 h patch; erythema score ≤2 |
| Biological evaluation planning | ISO 10993-1:2018 | Resin lot identity, post-cure time, wash solvent residual |
Dental guided-surgery templates built from Accura accuGen™ HC on the SLA 500 are processed with a 100 % as-supplied resin ratio, and the addition of reactive diluent or non-lot-controlled monomer is held at 0.0 % because unscheduled changes to vat chemistry alter cure depth compensation and undermine the dimensional tolerance required for sleeve-to-tube insertion. If radiopaque indexing is required for CBCT registration, 0.5–1.0 mm gutta-percha markers are inserted into printed sockets after post-cure instead of compounding the vat; in-vat opacifier addition is not used because settled barium sulfate alters local polymerisation depth by more than the laser compensation software can correct. The production file references ISO 10993-1:2018, ISO 10993-5:2009, ISO 10993-10:2021, and ISO 17664-1:2021 for cleaning and sterilisation validation of the printed device. The downstream process includes intraoral scan segmentation, guide sleeve path planning at a 1.5 mm minimum wall around the drill sleeve aperture, SLA 500 build at 0.1 mm layer thickness, support removal, 10 min isopropanol wash, and post-cure in a UV chamber at 60 °C for 30 min; the drilled sleeve hole is then reamed to the specified H7 tolerance for metal sleeve insertion. Terminal product types include dentate surgical guides, edentulous bone-supported templates, and occlusal splints. For steam sterilisation at 134 °C, validation is mandatory because published data for this specific configuration is limited.
Pattern burnout of Ar Plastic from the SLA 500 is evaluated against ASTM D2584-18 for ash content when the printed pattern is used as a sacrificial master for ceramic shell investment casting in aerospace turbine blade production. The SLA 500 vat is operated with 100 % Ar Plastic; the addition of wax or water-soluble core binder is 0.0 %, and the pattern is hollowed to a 15 % internal lattice fill when gross pattern mass exceeds 500 g. The ceramic shell slurry is formulated at 72–78 wt% zirconium silicate, 18–22 wt% fused silica, and 4–6 wt% latex polymer binder; after eight primer and backup coats, the shell is dried at 22 °C and 40 % RH, then the Ar Plastic pattern is burned out in an oxygen-containing furnace ramping at 2 °C/min from 350 °C to 900 °C with a 2 h hold. The main production failure mode is incomplete burnout when furnace load exceeds 40 kg, because exothermic pyrolysis from multiple patterns raises local temperature above the control thermocouple setpoint. Metal castings are tested under ISO 6892-1:2019 for tensile properties. Terminal product types include investment-cast cobalt-chromium and titanium aluminide turbine blades and impellers. If a foundry requires ash content below 0.02 %, a separate validation is required because published data for this specific configuration is limited.
Ar Plastic inserts fabricated on the SLA 500 are used in aluminium mould bases for short-run low-melt thermoplastics such as polypropylene, low-density polyethylene, and thermoplastic elastomer grades with melt temperatures not exceeding 230 °C. The insert itself is generated at a 100 % resin-to-no-filler ratio; the only secondary formulation step is the bonding adhesive, mixed at 2:1 resin to hardener by weight and applied at 0.05 mm joint thickness, because a thicker adhesive bed creates a thermal barrier that slows heat transfer from the cavity wall. Mechanical design verification uses ISO 527-2:2012 tensile data, ISO 75-2:2013 heat deflection temperature data, and ASTM D638-14 comparative test results. The downstream injection process on a vertical shuttle press is limited to a clamp force of 15–25 t, polypropylene melt temperature 210 °C, injection pressure 49 MPa, and cooling water temperature 8–12 °C in conformal channels machined behind the printed cavity. Cycle time is deliberately extended by 5–10 s cooling compared with steel tooling to permit heat rejection through the photopolymer. Terminal product types include polypropylene living hinges, LDPE snap caps, and TPS grommets. This configuration is not validated for glass-filled polyamide or polycarbonate because the mould surface exceeds the practical endurance limit of the insert; published data for specific cycle counts above 50 is limited.
Transparent Accura accuGen™ HC parts for automotive lighting prototype validation are hand-finished to an SPI A2 surface after the SLA 500 build, because the 0.1 mm layer lines scatter light in photometric integration sphere measurements if left unfilled. The vat content is maintained at 100 % as-supplied HC resin with 0.0 % internal tint addition; amber or smoke appearance is achieved by applying an external solvent-borne lacquer with 35 µm dry film thickness after polishing, rather than adding dyes into the polymerising liquid. Prototype lenses are evaluated against SAE J576 for optical plastic materials and ECE R112 for passing-beam photometric contours when headlamp-level validation is required. The downstream sequence includes 1200-grit wet sanding, 5 µm diamond paste polishing, solvent wipe with naphtha, and UV clear-coat curing at 60 °C for 20 min. Terminal product types are rear combination lamp lenses, interior light pipes, and indicator covers for automotive evaluation builds. The material is used as a prototype lens body, not as a final homologated component for series production.
Master patterns produced from Ar Plastic on the SLA 500 are used to generate RTV silicone tools for vacuum-cast polyurethane short series. The silicone tool compound is mixed at 10:1 base to curing agent by weight, with 0.1 % graphite or fumed silica added only when static dissipation is required; the pattern itself is entered at 100 % Ar Plastic with no surface primer, but a 0.02 mm wax barrier coat is applied if the geometry contains undercuts that would otherwise lock the silicone during demoulding. The silicone is vacuum-degassed at −0.09 MPa for 5 min, poured over the master, and cured at 23 °C for 24 h; the mould is then cut along the parting line and shot with a 1:1 polyurethane resin under vacuum casting at 1–2 kPa. Tooling validation references ISO 23529:2016 for rubber test piece preparation and ISO 868:2003 for Shore hardness verification of the cured silicone. Terminal product types include vacuum-cast polyurethane bellows, seals, grommets, and mechanical covers. Humidity control below 40 % RH during silicone pour is required to prevent moisture-induced dewetting at deep blind cavities where the pattern wall transitions below 1.0 mm.
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3D Systems Accura accuGen™ HC and Ar Plastic for the SLA 500 System is a two-grade vat-photopolymerization resin set supplied for large-format stereolithography on the SLA 500 platform. The SLA 500 machine provides a build envelope of 508 mm × 508 mm × 584 mm and uses a galvanometer-driven ultraviolet laser to selectively crosslink liquid resin in a layerwise sequence. The HC grade is specified where high-clarity, low-haze transmission and visual inspection of internal flow paths are required; the Ar grade is specified where abrasion resistance and surface durability under repeated handling or wear-test conditions are required. Material properties are characterized using tensile, flexural, impact, thermal, optical, and abrasion test methods from ASTM D638-14, ASTM D790-17, ASTM D256-10, ASTM D648-18, ASTM D1003-21, and ASTM D4060-19. Both grades require separate laser working-curve validation on the target SLA 500 system because resin lot, laser power, beam mode, and recoater condition shift the cure depth and critical exposure.
In the SLA 500 process, cure depth is governed by the working-curve expression Cd = Dp ln(E/Ec), where Dp is the resin penetration depth, E is the applied laser energy, and Ec is the critical energy for gelation. The selected layer thickness must be smaller than the cured-depth target by an overcure factor sufficient to bond the current layer to the previous layer. For large-format builds on the SLA 500, layer thickness is commonly selected in the 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm range when the recoater and resin viscosity permit; thinner layers increase z-resolution but increase build time, while thicker layers reduce build time but amplify stair-step artifacts and require higher exposure stability. The accuGen HC grade has low optical absorption in the ultraviolet, which increases Dp relative to pigmented or filled grades; the practical risk is overcure in fine features and trapped resin in enclosed channels. The Ar grade is formulated for surface abrasion performance, which can reduce Dp and raise the minimum laser energy required to reach the same cure depth. Consequently, when switching between HC and Ar on the same SLA 500, the operator must not retain the same exposure parameters. The working-curve parameters must be re-established from the lot certificate or by using window-pane test builds on the target machine.
Recoating failure is the dominant production bottleneck when running these resins on a legacy SLA 500. After the part cross-section is cured, the recoater blade traverses the vat to apply a fresh resin layer. If the resin viscosity is high or the blade gap is incorrectly set, the fresh layer may not cover the full 508 mm × 508 mm build area before the next scan. In production operation, this defect appears as a linear region of poor interlayer adhesion, usually parallel to the recoater edge and most pronounced on parts placed downstream of the blade travel. Viscosity is checked at 25 °C using ASTM D4212-16 or ISO 2884-1:2006. Operators should record viscosity after initial material conditioning and after 100 h of vat dwell time, because monomer depletion from repeated curing and airborne humidity absorption can shift both viscosity and working-curve values. Published data for the specific accuGen HC and Ar formulations are limited; therefore, the numerical acceptance window must be taken from the current 3D Systems lot certificate rather than from generic SLA resin tables.
| Property | Method | Grade focus |
|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength, modulus, elongation | ASTM D638-14 / ISO 527-2:2012 | HC and Ar |
| Flexural modulus, flexural strength | ASTM D790-17 / ISO 178:2019 | HC and Ar |
| Notched Izod impact | ASTM D256-10 / ISO 180:2019 | Ar, HC |
| Heat deflection temperature | ASTM D648-18 / ISO 75-2:2013 at 0.455 MPa and 1.82 MPa | HC and Ar |
| Density | ASTM D792-20 / ISO 1183-1:2019 | HC and Ar |
| Visible transmittance and haze | ASTM D1003-21 | HC |
| Taber abrasion resistance | ASTM D4060-19 | Ar |
| Resin viscosity | ASTM D4212-16 / ISO 2884-1:2006 | HC and Ar |
Specimens for the above tests are preconditioned at 23 ± 2 °C and 50 ± 10 % RH unless the specific product datasheet imposes a different protocol. Tensile specimens are usually constructed with the build plane parallel to the XYZ principal axes; mechanical values from the SLA 500 must not be used interchangeably with those from smaller-format SLA systems because laser power, scan speed, and vat thermal stability alter crosslink density. This is especially important for the Ar grade because abrasion results are influenced by surface cure, not just bulk cure. Modulus data derived from ISO 527-2:2012 should be recorded at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min for the initial slope; tensile strength and elongation are recorded at the speed specified in the material datasheet, commonly 5 mm/min or 50 mm/min. Test speed changes the viscoelastic response and must not be held constant across different Accura grades without noting the specific rate.
Handling of Accura accuGen HC and Ar begins with gentle low-shear mixing in the shipping container or vat. High-shear mixing entrains air and creates microbubbles that persist in the viscous photopolymer; in HC parts these bubbles scatter light and reduce the transmission measured under ASTM D1003-21. The mixed resin should be allowed to stand for the manufacturer-specified dwell time before the first build to release froth. Vat temperature must be controlled to the datasheet set point; arbitrary temperature changes alter viscosity, working-curve parameters, and recoater performance. The SLA 500 build chamber should be kept below 60 % RH where practical, because condensed moisture on the vat surface can produce localized cure inhibition and reduce interlayer adhesion. No unapproved diluent should be added to the resin; monomer dilution shifts Dp and Ec and invalidates the certified mechanical and thermal properties. Do not combine accuGen HC or Ar with amine-based epoxy additives or unapproved crosslinking agents; free amines can interfere with free-radical acrylate cure and produce tacky surfaces.
Post-cure processing differs by grade. HC components are typically solvent rinsed to remove uncured resin from surfaces and internal channels, then UV post-cured in a calibrated chamber. Residual uncured resin left in blind pockets polymerizes during UV or thermal post-cure and can crack thin walls; this is a known failure mode on large SLA 500 parts with enclosed features. Ar components can be post-cured with the same UV/thermal cycle as the HC grade only if the supplier release documentation confirms equivalent thermal response; otherwise the Ar formulation may require a shorter or longer UV dose to reach the surface hardness target. Abrasion performance should be verified after post-cure using ASTM D4060-19 with the same wheel type, load, and cycle count recorded for each lot. Published data for the specific accuGen HC and Ar formulations are limited; therefore, post-cure exposure dose should be derived from the lot certificate and confirmed by degree-of-cure testing such as residual monomer extraction or hardness measurement.
Support structures for HC and Ar should be oriented to avoid trapped oxygen that inhibits polymerization at the vat interface. Because the SLA 500 is an open-vat system, oxygen inhibition is greatest at the surface of the first layer and on down-facing surfaces. For HC optical components, down-facing regions should not be placed in areas requiring transmission; sanding or polishing after post-cure removes the oxygen-inhibited surface but also alters the ASTM haze measurement. For Ar wear surfaces, orientation should place the critical test face away from the support side, because support nibs create local stress concentrations that can initiate wear failure under repeated load. Cleaning solvent compatibility should also be controlled. Isopropanol is commonly used for SLA green-part rinsing, but solvent residence time should be limited to avoid part swelling; prolonged immersion can soften the polymer network and reduce mechanical properties. Use of acetone or aggressive solvent blends should be avoided unless explicitly allowed by the material datasheet.
Comparison with other Accura grades requires alignment of layer thickness, post-cure, and certification standard. Accura 25 is commonly used for polypropylene-like parts requiring high elongation; Accura 60 is a clear PC-like grade with moderate visible transmission; Accura Xtreme is used for high-impact ABS-like prototypes; Accura Bluestone is a ceramic-filled high-stiffness grade for thermal and structural load. Accura accuGen HC differs from Accura 60 primarily in optical-quality emphasis: the HC grade is selected for low-haze transmission and visual inspection rather than only clarity. Accura accuGen Ar differs from Accura Xtreme by emphasizing surface abrasion performance rather than bulk impact toughness; impact and abrasion do not track together because crosslink density and surface cure can increase hardness while reducing ductility.
From a processing perspective, the accuGen HC and Ar grades on the SLA 500 should not be expected to have the same build speed as Accura 25 or Accura 60 when using identical exposure settings. The Ar grade’s abrasion-resistant chemistry may require lower scan speed or higher laser energy to achieve the same cure depth, reducing build throughput. The HC grade’s lower optical absorption can increase penetration depth; if left uncompensated, it can generate overcure around small openings and lose clearance on mating features. When the SLA 500 is used for large-format parts, these differences become economically significant because a 508 mm × 508 mm × 584 mm build can require several days of continuous scanning. Compliance under REACH and RoHS 2011/65/EU should be verified for the specific part number and production date because raw material formulations may contain reactive diluents or photoinitiators that are subject to regulatory change. Food-contact or medical use requires a separate supplier compliance letter; this product introduction does not establish FDA 21 CFR clearance.
An application qualification program for accuGen HC and Ar should therefore include a three-part build on the target SLA 500: a working-curve window-pane test for exposure, a recoater coverage test for viscosity and blade gap, and a geometry-specific test part with both thin walls and thick sections. The resulting parts should be measured for tensile properties under ASTM D638-14, flexural properties under ASTM D790-17, heat deflection under ASTM D648-18 at 0.455 MPa and 1.82 MPa, and optical or abrasion performance under ASTM D1003-21 or ASTM D4060-19. If published numerical data for the specific configuration are limited, supplier lot certificates and in-house capability studies must be used as the basis for conformance.
