Rapid Prototyping
Rapid Prototyping Primer
by William Palm (May 1998), revised 30 July 2002, Penn State Learning Factory
Table of Contents: 1. Overview of Rapid Prototyping 2. The Basic Process 3. Rapid Prototyping Techniques * Stereo Lithography (SLA) * Laminated Object Manufacture (LOM) * Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) * Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) * Solid Ground Curing (SGC) * 3-D Ink Jet Printing 4. Applications of Rapid Prototyping 5. Future Developments
Learning Factory Rapid Prototyping Home Page
1 Overview of Rapid Prototyping
The term rapid prototyping (RP) refers to a class of technologies that can automatically construct physical models from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data. These "three dimensional printers" allow designers to quickly create tangible prototypes of their designs, rather than just two-dimensional pictures. Such models have numerous uses. They make excellent visual aids for communicating ideas with co-workers or customers. In addition, prototypes can be used for design testing. For example, an aerospace engineer might mount a model airfoil in a wind tunnel to measure lift and drag forces. Designers have always utilized prototypes; RP allows them to be made faster and less expensively.
In addition to prototypes, RP techniques can also be used to make tooling (referred to as rapid tooling) and even production-quality parts (rapid manufacturing). For small production runs and complicated objects, rapid prototyping is often the best manufacturing process available. Of course, "rapid" is a relative term. Most prototypes require from three to seventy-two hours to build, depending on the size and complexity of the object. This may seem slow, but it is much faster than the weeks or months required to make a prototype by traditional means such as machining. These dramatic time savings allow manufacturers to bring products to market faster and more cheaply. In 1994,
by William Palm (May 1998), revised 30 July 2002, Penn State Learning Factory
Table of Contents: 1. Overview of Rapid Prototyping 2. The Basic Process 3. Rapid Prototyping Techniques * Stereo Lithography (SLA) * Laminated Object Manufacture (LOM) * Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) * Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) * Solid Ground Curing (SGC) * 3-D Ink Jet Printing 4. Applications of Rapid Prototyping 5. Future Developments
Learning Factory Rapid Prototyping Home Page
1 Overview of Rapid Prototyping
The term rapid prototyping (RP) refers to a class of technologies that can automatically construct physical models from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data. These "three dimensional printers" allow designers to quickly create tangible prototypes of their designs, rather than just two-dimensional pictures. Such models have numerous uses. They make excellent visual aids for communicating ideas with co-workers or customers. In addition, prototypes can be used for design testing. For example, an aerospace engineer might mount a model airfoil in a wind tunnel to measure lift and drag forces. Designers have always utilized prototypes; RP allows them to be made faster and less expensively.
In addition to prototypes, RP techniques can also be used to make tooling (referred to as rapid tooling) and even production-quality parts (rapid manufacturing). For small production runs and complicated objects, rapid prototyping is often the best manufacturing process available. Of course, "rapid" is a relative term. Most prototypes require from three to seventy-two hours to build, depending on the size and complexity of the object. This may seem slow, but it is much faster than the weeks or months required to make a prototype by traditional means such as machining. These dramatic time savings allow manufacturers to bring products to market faster and more cheaply. In 1994,