Support-Removal Effects on Fine Features and Internal Geometries: Access, Load Transfer, Surface Damage and Verification

Supports enable vat-photopolymerised parts to survive printing, but their removal is a separate manufacturing operation. Cutting, peeling, twisting, dissolving or thermal release transfers load into a partially or fully cured network. Fine walls can bend or crack, contact scars can erase functional detail, and inaccessible internal supports can remain undetected. A part that meets dimensional requirements before support removal may fail after it. This review defines qualification of support removal for fine features and internal geometries. It links support design to access, removal sequence, local load path, material state, surface damage and verification. It requires representative destructive trials, inspection sensitivity and explicit acceptance rules. No universal tip diameter, support density, removal time or post-cure sequence is supported.