R. Luzzi et al., INFORMATIONAL STATISTICAL THERMODYNAMICS AND THERMAL LASER STEREOLITHOGRAPHY, Journal of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, 22(3), 1997, pp. 197-216
We consider the nonequilibrium thermodynamic aspects of the techno-ind
ustrial process of thermal laser stereolithography. The conditions nec
essary for a satisfactory process of rapid prototyping to follow are c
haracterized and discussed. We show that the process is best described
in terms of modern theories of nonequilibrium thermodynamics of dissi
pative systems. Nonconservative fluxes need to be introduced as basic
variables, quite in the spirit of extended irreversible thermodynamics
, to explain the experimental results. We also show that by varying th
e thermal properties of the material, the restricted domain of validit
y of the traditional classical irreversible thermodynamics is reached:
to have diffusive motion predominating over long-range-propagating un
dulatory motion is fundamental for the technique.