Investigation of Overall Light Transmittance of PETG Material
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The article presents a study of the overall brightness of semi-transparent materials used in additive manufacturing. Components with varying thicknesses and diverse types of finished surfaces were manufactured and evaluated under various lighting conditions. The test components were fabricated from a transparent PETG (polyethylene terephthalate) material. The printing parameters were selected based on a series of experiments conducted on this type of material. The measurements were conducted on a specially designed and manufactured stand for measuring overall light transmittance. The classical method for evaluating the results according to the normal distribution law was applied. The findings of the studies demonstrate that transmittance is predominantly contingent on the thickness of the component, as opposed to the illuminance or the nature of the surface. The discrepancy in transmittance between thicknesses of 1 and 1.5 mm for all illuminance levels is approximately 12%. As the thickness increases, the discrepancy in transmittance decreases, reaching approximately 1.5% for samples with thicknesses ranging from 2 to 3.5 mm. The light intensity exhibited a negligible effect on transmittance, with an approximate measurement of 1.5%.
Institution: Technical University of Sofia
Language: English
Subfield: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7204445658