| HS Code | 644537 |
| Material Type | Rapid Prototyping Polymer |
| Color | Blue |
| Appearance | Blue liquid |
| Technology | SLA/DLP |
| Viscosity At 25 C | 1,200 cps |
| Density At 25 C | 1.12 g/cm³ |
| Tensile Strength | 45 MPa |
| Tensile Modulus | 2,000 MPa |
| Elongation At Break | 10% |
| Flexural Strength | 70 MPa |
| Flexural Modulus | 2,100 MPa |
| Shore D Hardness | 80 |
| Glass Transition Temperature | 70°C |
| Heat Deflection Temperature | 60°C |
| Cure Wavelength | 405 nm |
| Shrinkage | 0.5% |
| Water Absorption | 0.5% |
| Layer Thickness Range | 50-100 µm |
As an accredited iSQUARED IORA Blue Rapid Prototyping Polymer factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
| Packing | iSQUARED IORA Blue Rapid Prototyping Polymer is packaged in a sealed 1 kg moisture-barrier foil pouch with resealable zipper. |
| Container Loading (20′ FCL) | 20′ FCL loaded with iSQUARED IORA Blue Rapid Prototyping Polymer, securely palletized, shrink-wrapped, and braced for safe ocean transport. |
| Shipping | iSQUARED IORA Blue Rapid Prototyping Polymer is typically shipped as a non-regulated, non-flammable liquid resin in sealed, light-resistant containers. DOT/IATA/IMDG normally classify it as not dangerous goods, with no UN number, hazard class, or packing group. Transport upright at ambient temperature, protect from sunlight/freezing, and confirm the current SDS. |
| Storage | Store iSQUARED IORA Blue Rapid Prototyping Polymer in a cool, dry, dark, well-ventilated area, away from direct sunlight, UV light, heat, sparks, and ignition sources. Keep containers tightly closed, upright, and in original packaging. Maintain 15–25°C; avoid freezing and excessive heat. Separate from oxidizers, food, and drink. Use secondary containment where required. Follow SDS and local regulations. |
| Shelf Life | Shelf life is typically 24 months when stored sealed in original container at 15–25°C, away from direct sunlight and heat. |
When vat-photopolymerized blue resin replaces machined acetal or nylon in snap-fit and clip-retention test articles, the acceptance criteria shift from static tensile strength to fatigue-based cantilever deflection and layer-to-layer shear. The iSQUARED IORA Blue rapid prototyping polymer is processed as supplied on a DLP or masked-LCD system with a 405 nm LED source and a build-plane irradiance commonly set between 2 mW/cm² and 5 mW/cm²; no Part B addition or thinning with reactive diluent is required for standard use. If viscosity adjustment is contemplated because the build chamber is below 20 °C, the diluent must not exceed 5 wt% without re-deriving the working curve and re-testing tensile properties. Temperature stabilisation of the resin to 22–25 °C prior to printing is a more reliable control than changing exposure dose, because viscosity in vat photopolymerization is strongly temperature-dependent. Mechanical acceptance for snap-fit prototypes should follow ISO 527-2:2012 for tensile modulus and ISO 178:2019 for flexural modulus; comparative legacy data may be generated under ASTM D638-14 and ASTM D790-17 if a US customer requires those designations. The limiting design value is not ultimate tensile strength but the strain at the clip root during repeated engagement; for rigid acrylate-type photopolymers, a conservative root strain below 1.0–1.5% reduces the probability of brittle fracture when the supplier’s elongation at break is not published. Blue pigmentation absorbs actinic radiation and alters the working curve; the critical energy Ec and penetration depth Dp must be re-established using the Jacobs equation. A clear-resin exposure recipe cannot be assumed to cure a blue grade to equivalent layer thickness, because the pigment reduces light transmission and may narrow the process window. When printing at 50 µm layer thickness, UV exposure should be validated with test tiles having near-full-size pigment distribution and aged projector irradiance; an undercure condition often appears only after post-cure as interlayer cleavage under flexural loading, not as surface tack. Post-cure is carried out in a UV-A and visible-LED chamber calibrated to the supplier’s stated wavelength and dose; a dose below the supplier’s minimum can leave residual unsaturation that depresses heat deflection temperature and raises water uptake under ISO 62:2008. For snap-fit articles, dimensional verification before dynamic cycling should be based on ISO 286-1:2010 limits and not on nominal CAD values, because photopolymerisation shrinkage is anisotropic and post-cure shrinkage can vary by layer direction.
| Property | Standard designation | Test specimen condition |
|---|---|---|
| Tensile modulus | ISO 527-2:2012 | 23 °C, 50% RH, Type 1B specimen, 1 mm/min |
| Flexural modulus | ISO 178:2019 | three-point bending, span-to-thickness ratio 16:1 |
| Hardness | ISO 868:2003 | Shore D, 15 s reading, 6 mm thickness |
| Water absorption | ISO 62:2008 | immersion at 23 °C until constant mass |
The substitution of blue rapid prototyping polymer for foundry wax in investment casting introduces a different thermal decomposition sequence. Wax melts and drains at 80–120 °C; a crosslinked photopolymer does not melt, it decomposes through pyrolysis and oxidative burnout. Shell cracking often develops because the solid pattern expands against the primary ceramic coat before charring. If the supplier’s TDS does not declare a coefficient of thermal expansion, a slow burnout ramp between 20 °C and 250 °C at no more than 1–2 °C/min is advisable for cross-sections above 5 mm. Above 400–500 °C, oxidative degradation of char occurs; the residual mass depends on the blue pigment and any filler system. If the blue colourant is an inorganic pigment containing copper or sodium aluminosilicate, residual ash may exceed the typical 0.05 wt% criterion used for unfilled pattern resins. Thermogravimetric analysis under ISO 11358-1:2022 should be required before shell production; if the residue is above the casting house’s limit, the pattern cannot be burned out cleanly in a standard shell. Pattern construction for investment casting should use hollow or lattice-filled interiors to reduce volumetric expansion. On a DLP/LCD machine, a 50 µm layer thickness is commonly balanced against build speed for burnout patterns. After printing, the pattern is washed in a two-stage solvent system: first bath of 99% isopropanol or tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether to dissolve uncured liquid resin, second bath clean for final rinse. The pattern is dried with filtered compressed air and post-cured before tree assembly. Wax sprues and gates are attached with cyanoacrylate or hot-pattern wax; the pattern is then coated with a primary slurry. A typical primary slurry uses colloidal silica binder and 325-mesh zircon flour at a binder-to-filler ratio of 1:1 to 1:1.5 by volume. After stuccoing and secondary coats, the shell is dried under 50–60% relative humidity and 22–25 °C. Burnout should be performed in a flash furnace with oxygen supply above 10% by volume and a final shell preheat between 700 °C and 900 °C, matching the alloy pouring temperature requirement. Insufficient oxygen causes carbon retention. Process validation includes a test flask with the same wall thickness and pigment lot to verify no shell crack and no metal-carbon reaction.
Master patterns printed in blue rapid prototyping polymer are used for room-temperature vulcanising silicone moulds when the production requirement is 20–50 cast parts. The limiting process risk is cure inhibition of platinum-catalysed addition-cure silicone by residual photoinitiator or acrylate monomer on the pattern surface. If the pattern is not fully post-cured and washed, the silicone may remain liquid at the contact interface. Before tool construction, a sacrificial printed coupon should be placed in contact with the silicone and checked for hardness after 24 h at 23 °C using ISO 868:2003; a hardness loss greater than 5 Shore A relative to the uninhibited control indicates insufficient pattern cure. Pattern preparation uses a two-stage solvent wash: a first bath of 99% isopropanol or tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether, then a clean second bath to prevent re-depositing dissolved monomer, followed by drying and a full post-cure. If inhibition persists, a polyvinyl alcohol barrier coat or acrylic lacquer may be applied to the pattern before silicone pouring. Mould construction with condensation-cure RTV silicone typically uses a 100:5 catalyst-to-base ratio by weight, while platinum-cure silicones are usually mixed at 10:1 Part A to Part B; the silicone manufacturer’s ratio and mixing protocol must be followed. Degassing the mixed silicone at −0.1 MPa gauge for 5–10 min reduces air entrainment. The polymer pattern must be fixed to a base plate and surrounded by a rigid frame; mould parting lines are cut with a scalpel after cure. Dimensional compensation is not a single value: polyurethane casting resins shrink 0.1–0.5% linear and silicone mould rubber shrinks 0.1–0.6% during cure, so the total compensation across pattern-to-cast part may be 0.3–1.0%. A pilot casting should be measured on a coordinate measuring machine before committing to a full mould family. The blue colour can assist in visual detection of silicone flash at parting lines, but it also absorbs actinic light during post-cure and may require longer exposure than a clear resin for the same section thickness. Mould release agents containing amine-functional siloxanes should be avoided if residual surface monomer is suspected, because amine species can accelerate premature skin formation in platinum-cure silicone.
Precision assembly jigs produced from rigid photopolymers differ from machined aluminium fixtures in hole-position retention under repeated fastener torque. For low-force alignment and drilling-guide service, the iSQUARED IORA Blue rapid prototyping polymer is used as printed, without filler addition; the critical processing variables are layer orientation and post-cure temperature. Holes printed perpendicular to the build direction may show ovality caused by layer stacking and antialiasing; reaming to size is recommended when the positional tolerance is tighter than ±0.20 mm. When threaded inserts are required, heat-stake or ultrasonic brass inserts are preferred over direct thread cutting. Pilot hole diameters should follow the insert manufacturer’s data, usually 0.05–0.15 mm larger than the insert body diameter for heat-stake installation. Tightening torque for an M3 insert in an unfilled rigid photopolymer should be limited to 0.5–1.0 N·m unless the resin supplier publishes pull-out and torque data; higher clamp loads require a steel backing plate or through-hole fastening. Dimensional stability should be verified after post-cure because the green-state part can shift by 0.1% during thermal post-curing. Measurement of hole position and fixture datum surfaces should follow ISO 2768-1:1989 general tolerances for linear dimensions, and the fixture should be inspected on a CMM after conditioning at 23 °C for 24 h. If the jig will be used in a humid assembly area, water absorption under ISO 62:2008 may change the hole diameter; the amount depends on the resin’s hydrophilicity and the local relative humidity. Do not use direct-threaded polymer holes for torque-critical assembly; thread flanks may creep under continuous load. Drill bushings can be pressed into reamed holes with a 0.02–0.05 mm interference fit, but this is permissible only after a test bushing installation verifies no radial cracking in the resin. Replace jigs when hole wear exceeds the part print tolerance; hard tooling should be used for production volumes above 1,000 cycles because photopolymer wear on drill-guide bores is not equivalent to case-hardened steel.
If the part encloses a printed circuit board, flammability verification precedes mechanical approval. Blue rapid prototyping polymer used for enclosure mock-ups may be evaluated under IEC 60695-11-10 for horizontal or vertical burning; an unfilled vat-photopolymerised resin often achieves only HB unless the base resin is formulated with flame-retardant additives. No V-0 classification should be inferred from colour or from a different resin grade. The blue pigment may be an inorganic filler or organic colourant; both can alter ignition behaviour, char formation, and dripping. A test plaque must be printed in the same orientation, layer thickness, and post-cure state as the production prototype, because surface texture and residual monomer influence flammability. Mechanical layout verification can proceed before flammability testing, but electrical safety documentation should not be signed until the test report is available. PCB standoffs printed into the enclosure should use bosses with a minimum wall thickness of 2.5 mm and thread-forming screws designed for plastics; engagement length shorter than 2 × nominal screw diameter may reduce pull-out strength. Temperature exposure is limited by the resin’s heat deflection temperature under ISO 75-2:2013; if no HDT is declared, continuous exposure above 50 °C under clamping load may produce creep and loss of standoff force. Ventilation slots and snap-fit features should be checked for crack initiation after repeated assembly; if the vendor’s datasheet does not include fracture data, a minimum of 10 assembly cycles with no visible whitening at the clip root is a practical screening boundary for short-run evaluation. Flame-retardant additives must not be compounded by the user; the resin is used as supplied. Any enclosure submitted for regulatory pre-screen must be tested as a printed plaque of the same post-cure state, not from a different resin grade. If the final application requires a V-0 material, the printed prototype does not itself establish compliance and must be matched to a certified production resin.
| Risk property | Test standard | Acceptance boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Flammability | IEC 60695-11-10 | HB or better as required by end-use, no implied V-0 from colour |
| Heat deflection | ISO 75-2:2013 | Continuous service below published HDT unless creep data available |
| Water absorption | ISO 62:2008 | Change in dimension and mass assessed at 23 °C immersion |
Diagnostic models in orthodontic and restorative workflows require dimensional accuracy but not necessarily intraoral biocompatibility. If the iSQUARED IORA Blue rapid prototyping polymer is used for study models, trueness should be assessed under ISO 12836:2015 for additive manufacturing in dental digitization. A full-arch printed model is scanned and compared to the reference STL using best-fit alignment; a trueness of ±100 µm is often cited for diagnostic use, but the supplier may not guarantee this for pigmented grades. The material must not be used for surgical guides, splints, or intraoral appliances unless the specific grade has documented cytotoxicity under ISO 10993-5:2009 and irritation under ISO 10993-10:2013. Blue pigmentation can reduce visual contrast for margin-line detection compared with beige or white dental model resins; if marginal fit evaluation is required, a thin scanning spray or opaque primer may be applied. Post-cure heat treatment is mandatory to reduce residual monomer, which can cause dimensional drift and interfere with polyvinyl siloxane impression materials. Storage should avoid direct sunlight and temperatures above 40 °C because further polychromatic exposure may cause colour shift and additional crosslinking. For orthodontic study models, the build should be oriented to minimize the effect of stair-stepping on occlusal surfaces; layer thickness of 50 µm or 100 µm is selected based on the required occlusal approximation. The model should be washed with 99% isopropanol in a two-stage rinse, dried, and post-cured before scanning. If the printed model will be used as a thermoforming positive for clear aligner appliances, the surface hardness and heat resistance must be validated according to the thermoforming temperature of the aligner sheet, typically 160–180 °C for selected PET-G and co-polyester materials; a blue rapid prototyping polymer with HDT below the forming temperature may soften and lose vacuum holes. Therefore, thermoforming on printed models is outside the normal use boundary unless the supplier’s HDT exceeds the sheet forming temperature with a safety margin of at least 20 °C. Published data for this specific configuration is limited where the supplier has not declared thermal deformation values, so the thermoforming route should be confirmed by pilot testing before any patient-modelled appliance is produced.
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The iSQUARED IORA Blue Rapid Prototyping Polymer is a rigid, blue-pigmented photopolymer intended for visual and form-and-fit prototypes on multi-jet photopolymer printing platforms. The model designation IORA Blue separates it from clear, grey, black, and high-temperature resins in the same series; the blue colour is achieved through pigment dispersion in the acrylate matrix rather than through surface dyeing after cure. Because the resin is jetted through piezo printheads, the critical incoming-material properties are viscosity, surface tension, and cure response under the printer’s UV lamp array. Batch-specific values for density, viscosity, and cured mechanical performance are reported in the iSQUARED certificate of analysis and must not be assumed from similar blue-coloured third-party resins. When the current datasheet is unavailable, no specific numerical performance claim should be applied to the material without verification.
On production-scale machines with heated printheads and fluid recirculation, idle time is the most significant process variable for blue opaque resins. In third-party jettable photopolymers, pigment particles can settle during overnight shutdown if the cartridge remains static for more than 48 h. The first build after such an idle period may show colour streaking and a local reduction in tensile strength because the volumetric pigment fraction changes light penetration and crosslink density. To reduce this risk, users should record cartridge re-mixing time, ambient storage temperature, and the number of days since first opening. The machine’s recirculation loop may not resuspend dense agglomerates; therefore, the supplier’s cartridge agitation or re-mixing instruction should be followed. Jetting viscosity is commonly evaluated under ASTM D7867-13 or ISO 2884-1, but the viscosity value alone does not predict settling. Batch-to-batch variance in pigment dispersion is a known failure mode on high-volume prototype lines, particularly when cartridges are stored near a heated build chamber. Storage temperature should follow the safety data sheet Section 7; unopened containers are often specified for 15–25°C, while condensation risk rises below 10°C and premature thermal initiation becomes a concern above 30°C. For IORA Blue, the exact range must be read from the current SDS and batch certificate.
On systems with a heated inkjet head, a temperature deviation of more than ±5°C from the resin setpoint can shift the jetting viscosity enough to alter droplet volume and layer thickness. If the head is too cool, viscosity rises and nozzles may not fire reliably; if overheated, cure can initiate in the nozzle recesses and form gel particles. This is a critical threshold because the useful viscosity window for jettable acrylates is often narrow. Users should record head temperature and reject builds when the measured value falls outside the manufacturer’s window. In one production failure mode, a cartridge of blue photopolymer was stored adjacent to a heated build chamber for several hours, raising the resin temperature above its safe level and producing pre-gelled particles that blocked a printhead filter. The blockage was not detected until the third cartridge of the shift failed the same way. This failure mode is not unique to IORA Blue, but it is relevant because pigmented resins can hide early gel particles visually. UV lamp output in the 365–405 nm range should be checked with a radiometer before processing a new batch, because aged lamps may under-cure the first layers even when the resin temperature remains within specification.
After the green part is removed from the platform, residual uncured resin and support material are removed in a two-stage solvent wash. The first bath removes bulk uncured resin; the second bath reduces pigment haze on down-facing surfaces because blue pigment tends to accumulate in micro-rough layers. Drying endpoint should be determined by constant mass rather than by a fixed time, since pigment-loaded acrylates can retain solvent in small surface voids. Post-cure is then performed in a UV chamber. A radiometer with a UVA sensor is recommended to quantify chamber output, because published data for IORA Blue post-cure dose is limited and chamber intensity varies with lamp age. Over-curing should be avoided in thin sections because rigid photopolymers can embrittle at high crosslink density. Post-cured parts should be conditioned under ISO 291 before metrology, because dimensional readings taken immediately after removal from a warm UV chamber may drift as the part cools and absorbs moisture.
Surface finish on down-facing layers is typically rougher than up-facing surfaces because the support interface leaves a slightly irregular surface. If the part is used as a visual model, the support side should be sanded or vapour-smoothed only after checking that the process does not alter the blue colour. Mechanical sanding with 400–600 grit wet paper can remove layer steps without excessive heat. Vapour smoothing should be avoided unless the manufacturer has provided solvent compatibility data, because solvent vapours can plasticise the surface and reduce hardness.
Pigment loading alters the rheology of acrylate photopolymers even when the base monomer system is shared with a clear variant. In a clear resin, viscosity is governed primarily by oligomer chain length, monomer dilution, and temperature. In IORA Blue, the dispersed pigment phase contributes an additional component; if dispersion is incomplete, the resin can exhibit shear-rate-dependent viscosity and a tendency to resist flat-layer formation. High-shear dispersion during manufacturing is critical, and pigment particle size distribution should be controlled by the supplier. Laser diffraction under ISO 13320 can quantify agglomerates, but such data are typically not present on product datasheets. From a processing standpoint, the practical consequence is that a clear resin may tolerate a wider cartridge temperature window, while IORA Blue may require a narrower temperature window to maintain stable droplet formation.
Printhead idle recovery may also be slower because pigment can remain in the nozzle plate recesses after purging. These differences do not mean the material is unprocessable; they mean that the IORA Blue build parameter set must not be copied directly from a clear resin of similar nominal hardness. When a new lot is introduced, a small test build should be run to check layer flatness, colour uniformity, and support removal behaviour before committing a full platform. This practice is especially important in shared prototype shops where different operators handle multiple resins on the same machine; cross-contamination of clear resin with blue pigment can be detected visually, but the reverse contamination may not be immediately obvious. The machine’s purge volume should be specified for a pigment changeover, and the waste container should be checked for settled solids.
Mechanical property comparisons between IORA Blue and general-purpose ABS-like resins should be made using identical build orientation, layer thickness, and post-cure conditions. Tensile bars printed flat in the XY orientation and tested under ASTM D638-14 typically show higher modulus and lower elongation than high-elongation elastomeric photopolymers, but the presence of blue pigment may slightly reduce tensile strength relative to an equivalent unpigmented grade because pigment agglomerates can act as stress concentrators. A significant reduction in elongation at break relative to the manufacturer’s typical range may indicate pigment agglomeration or insufficient mixing. Impact values should be read as notched values under ASTM D256 or ISO 180, because unnotched values do not capture the brittle failure mode common to rigid photopolymers. Direct substitution of IORA Blue into a load-bearing snap-fit prototype therefore requires revalidation of the snap geometry, because the resin may fail at a lower strain than a ductile ABS-like resin.
Moisture conditioning before testing changes the apparent mechanical performance of rigid photopolymers. A specimen tested immediately after ambient storage may have a different moisture content than one conditioned under 50% RH and 23°C for 48 h. Water acts as a plasticiser in some acrylate networks, reducing modulus and increasing elongation to break. Therefore, when laboratory results are compared between suppliers or between production lots, the conditioning history must be reported alongside the test standard. If the IORA Blue batch certificate does not state the conditioning interval, the user should request it or repeat the test under controlled conditions before releasing a functional prototype.
IORA Blue is frequently evaluated as a third-party alternative to rigid opaque blue PolyJet materials such as VeroBlue. Direct substitution without revalidation is not appropriate for functional prototypes because the photoinitiator system, pigment dispersion, and stabiliser package differ between suppliers. A visual match under D65 illumination does not establish equivalence in solvent susceptibility, thermal ageing, or moisture uptake. A form-and-fit assembly may pass immediate dimensional checks yet fail after 72 h at elevated humidity if IORA Blue has a higher water absorption coefficient than the reference material. Moisture uptake should be compared under ASTM D570-98 or ISO 62 with specimens conditioned at 50% RH and 23°C. The table below provides a class reference envelope for rigid blue opaque multi-jet photopolymers; it is not a substitute for the IORA Blue batch certificate, but it can be used to identify deviations that require further investigation.
| Property | Test method | Class reference range |
|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength | ASTM D638-14 | 50–60 MPa |
| Tensile elongation at break | ASTM D638-14 | 10–25% |
| Tensile modulus | ASTM D638-14 | 2.0–3.0 GPa |
| Flexural strength | ASTM D790-17 | 75–110 MPa |
| Flexural modulus | ASTM D790-17 | 2.2–3.2 GPa |
| Shore D hardness | ASTM D2240 | 83–86 |
| Heat deflection temperature at 0.45 MPa | ASTM D648-18 | 45–50°C |
| Water absorption | ASTM D570-98 | 1.1–1.5% |
Regulatory status for IORA Blue should be confirmed against the current safety data sheet and supplier declaration. A standard industrial prototyping resin is not automatically compliant with food-contact or medical device requirements. The compliance checklist should include RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU Annex II restricted substances, REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 SVHC declarations, and FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 only if food-contact use is explicitly claimed by iSQUARED. For medical applications, ISO 10993-5 and ISO 10993-10 test data must be requested; the rapid prototyping grade is not automatically certified for prolonged body contact. If the part is intended for use in an electrical enclosure, the material’s flammability class under UL 94 must be provided by the manufacturer. The blue pigment does not provide a flame-retardant function.
After cure, IORA Blue parts should not be exposed to aggressive ketone solvents unless chemical resistance data are available under ASTM D543-20. Isopropyl alcohol, which is commonly used for support removal, can swell the network if contact exceeds the minimum time required to dissolve support material. A short rinse of 30–60 s per side is often sufficient for thin features, but thick sections may require longer. Ultrasonic cleaning in a solvent bath is not recommended because cavitation can initiate microcracks at pigment agglomerates and sharp corners. If ultrasonic cleaning is unavoidable, a low-power sweep mode with bath temperature below 30°C and duration under 2 min reduces the risk. Drying after cleaning should follow ISO 291 standard atmosphere conditioning before dimensional inspection.
For applications requiring surface sealing, a UV-stable clearcoat can delay moisture uptake, but the clearcoat must not contain solvents that soften the photopolymer. Adhesion of the coating should be tested under ASTM D3359-17 cross-cut tape adhesion, because some two-component polyurethane clearcoats develop acidity during cure that can etch the resin surface. If a clearcoat is used on IORA Blue, the user should measure the coated part’s colour shift after accelerated weathering, because some clearcoats contain UV absorbers that interact with blue pigments and produce a slight green shift under D65 viewing conditions. Published data for this specific configuration is limited; therefore, a small test plaque should be aged before committing a visual prototype to display use.
Blue pigments in rapid prototyping polymers may fade or shift under continuous light exposure. For long-term display or prototypes behind UV-blocking glazing, colour stability should be assessed under ISO 105-B02 or ASTM G154-16 accelerated weathering. A spectrophotometer can quantify ΔE after ageing against a reference sample stored in darkness; the human eye may not detect slight yellowing of the polymer matrix until the change is already significant. IORA Blue is a visual prototyping material, not a colour-certified standard, and batch-to-batch colour variation can arise from pigment supply changes. If colour matching is critical, the incoming material should be checked against a retained master plaque under a light booth with D65 illumination before production begins.
Photopolymer builds are anisotropic because each layer interface acts as a weak plane. A part built flat on the platform will have different tensile properties than one built upright, and values reported by the supplier are usually XY-oriented. A user who builds parts in the Z orientation may observe significantly lower elongation at break. Dimensional tolerances are not a material property alone; they depend on layer thickness, jetting resolution, support strategy, and post-cure shrinkage. For comparison to another resin, all specimens must be printed with the same orientation, layer thickness, and post-cure protocol. Three-point flexural testing under ISO 178 is a more informative comparison when specimens are cut from standard build positions and the notch direction is reported.
If IORA Blue is used for master patterns for silicone moulding, the pattern surface should be sealed before moulding because uncatalysed silicone inhibitors can migrate from the photopolymer and inhibit platinum-cure silicone at the interface. This inhibition is commonly observed as a tacky silicone surface that fails to cure even after the manufacturer’s stated pot life. The condition is not unique to IORA Blue, but it is more likely when the photopolymer surface is not fully post-cured or when residual isopropyl alcohol remains in the surface. A heat-cured primer or a tin-cure silicone system may be used as an alternative, but the compatibility of the specific primer with IORA Blue should be verified under the primer supplier’s test method or ASTM D3359-17.
Unopened containers should be stored in a dry, dark area within the temperature range specified in Section 7 of the iSQUARED safety data sheet. Once a cartridge or bottle is opened, it should be protected from light and moisture and used within the manufacturer’s stated working life. Partially used containers should not be returned to the main stock without logging the opening date, because contamination can alter cure behaviour. Waste liquid and uncured resin should be disposed of according to local regulations for acrylate-containing materials. IORA Blue should not be mixed with amine-containing cleaning agents or with other photopolymer resins unless the manufacturer has explicitly approved the mixture; incompatible additives can cause premature crosslinking or precipitation of the pigment dispersion.
