Cracking - Excessive Solvent

excessive solvent cracking cracks/fissures form during the thermal curing process from over exposure to solvent excessive solvent cracking how to identify solvent exposure cracking can be diagnosed as follows cracks appear as thin, dark lines lines can appear anywhere in geometry but may be more prominent in areas where solvent may be slow to evaporate, such as inside corners or blind holes lines appear after baking parts look fine off of the printer and after washing excessive solvent cracking is differentiated by other types of cracking because it can occur anywhere on the part, rather than specific locations reference cracking bulk docid\ njxfq6vzx7uurgxntaipy and cracking medial axis docid 5ha yh1hu5cpmnapfurpa for other types of cracking cause inconclusive cause inconclusive troubleshooting it is recommended that you review all the possible solutions before taking action to ensure you are pursuing the best course of action if the best course of action is not apparent, try the troubleshooting options in the order listed refer part defects for more tips process, material, and hardware checks if any of these conditions apply to your print, take the corrective action and reprint to see if the problem is resolved washing follow solvent exposure times closely in the resin post processing protocol do not exceed maximum solvent exposure times do not exceed maximum solvent exposure times and reduce exposure time when possible if parts are fully clean use swabs in corners, or other stress points that trap solvent after washing, dry parts on a blue towel or raised mesh (with air flow around the whole part) until all solvent is evaporated prior to baking solvent exposure baking check that the correct bake schedule was used per resin protocols resins most susceptible to cracking use a bake schedule that ramps up temperature gradually ramped baking if problems persist, please reach out to carbon support explanation & causes explanation excessive solvent cracking occurs when parts are over exposed to solvent, leaving the material weaker as a result the cracks manifest during thermal curing as stress is released in weakened areas causes post processing how the part is handled in post processing is causing the defect post processing root issue problem why defect presents washing solvent exposure too much solvent exposure weakens the material, making stress points weaker baking wrong bake schedule the most common resins for bulk cracking are the brittle resins (epx) that use a ramping program to raise the temperature slowly and prevent thermal shock