In this study, the effect of different process conditions on the material properties of a single UV-cured layer of methacrylate resin, typically used in the stereolithography (SLA) process, is assessed. This simplified approach of the SLA process gives the opportunity to study the link between process conditions and mechanical properties without complicated interactions between different layers. Fourier-transform infrared analysis is performed to study the effect of light intensity, curing time, and initiator concentration on the monomer conversion. A model is developed based on the reaction kinetics of photopolymerization that describes and predicts the experimental data. The effect of curing time and light intensity on the glass-transition temperature is studied. A unique relation exists between conversion and glass-transition temperature, independent of the light intensity and curing time. Tensile tests on UV-cured resin show an increase in yield stress with increasing curing time and a linear relation between glass-transition temperature and yield stress. However, a lower light intensity leads to a different network structure characterized by a lower yield stress and glass-transition temperature. The correlations between process conditions and the mechanical properties of UV-cured methacrylate systems are established to better understand the role of the processing parameters involved in the SLA process.

The bulk dynamics of immiscible polymer blends during flow is relatively well understood, especially when the system contains Newtonian components. Recently, a number of studies have focused on flow of immiscible blends in confined geometries. In that case, the morphology development is not only affected by the material characteristics and the type of flow, but also by the degree of confinement. Here, we present an overview on the morphology development in immiscible two-phase blends in confined shear flow. Firstly, we focus on the typical microstructures that are observed in confined dilute blends. Secondly, in order to understand those peculiar morphologies, the systematic studies on single droplets in confined shear flow are reviewed. In addition to the experimental work, theoretical, phenomenological, and numerical models that include the effects of confinement are discussed