Digital Thread for Photopolymer Manufacturing: Requirements, Geometry, Material, Process, Inspection and Release

A digital thread for photopolymer manufacturing is not a folder containing CAD, slicer files and test reports. It is a set of controlled relationships that allows a released part to be traced from requirements and geometry through material identity, process execution, post-processing, inspection and final decision. This review develops a thread architecture for vat-photopolymer workflows in which every transformation has an identified input, output, version and responsible state. The thread preserves both digital objects and physical identifiers: formulation/lot, printer and optical state, build file, washing/post-cure records, conditioning, measurement data and nonconformances. ISO/ASTM 52901 and 52920 provide requirements and production-site structures that support this chain, while FAIR AM data work emphasizes interoperable data definitions. The central conclusion is that traceability is relational. A complete archive can still fail the digital-thread test if the evidence cannot show which requirement, file, material state and inspection result belong to the exact released object.

ER-291 · Version 0.3.