Fabrication and Analysis of Manufacturing Propellers for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Using Stereolithography Rapid Prototyping

This study determined whether the Stereolithography (SLA) 3D-printed propeller specimens printed in different resins and UV cure times, can be compared to the aftermarket fiberglass-reinforced plastic propeller. Charpy impact test and 3-Point bending test were accomplished to find out whether SLA 3D-printed propellers possessed good mechanical properties. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test whether the type of resin and different UV cure times influenced the performance of SLA 3D-printed propellers. Durable resin had the highest value of impact strength among the commercial and other 3D-printed propellers. In the 3-point bending test, no resin could be at par with the commercial propeller, however, the Grey resin was observed to have the highest modulus of elasticity. Further, the UV post curing done on the resins increased their mechanical strength with 30 mins done for the Durable as seen in the impact strength, and Grey at 60 mins for the flexural strength. Ambient temperature for the curing of the resins had minimal impact on the mechanical property. For Tough and Grey resin, SLA Rapid Prototyping can be used to verify the performance of new propeller designs before it can be made available commercially. For durable resin, UAV propellers are not possible to be manufactured with SLA Rapid Prototyping.