Summary

Rapid prototyping quickly verifies designs and reduces development time and cost. In today's rapidly changing marketplace, product development cycles have been compressed into weeks for what may have taken months or years in the past. Computer-Aided Design, or CAD, has revolutionized the way products are developed, and offers the designer a wide range of options to physically build parts and assemblies to validate form, fit and function. This article will discuss the use of CAD models in rapid prototyping to verify designs as it pertains to injection molding and die casting.

Since the earliest days of rapid prototyping, experts have envisioned the application of the technology in the manufacturing process, and the focus of this vision has been on the initial cost and time savings that are realized when tooling is eliminated. However, the relative impact pales in comparison to the wide ranging advantages that exist when rapid manufacturing is implemented.

Rapid Manufacturing (RM) is the name given to the production of series or end-use component parts made using additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) processes. ALM processes take three dimensional Computer aided Design (3D-CAD) data and directly print or grow parts in a variety of materials.

Although RM remains in its infancy, with up-take restricted almost exclusively to large scale OEM's and technology focused research firms, the technology has been cited as leading towards a second industrial revolution for the digital age, where it could have a significant impact on business, society, the economy and the environment.

Because RM has the potential to change the paradigm of global manufacturing, it is undoubtedly of increasing importance in both further and higher education. To-date however, RM focused learning tools have been restricted to printed materials, static web based resources and on-line multimedia content produced by technology vendors to stimulate sales.

The prime concerns of manufacturing engineers are productivity and quality. The daily challenge is to ensure maximum production quantity while adhering to the specified quality standards. Jigs & fixtures are essential tools to achieve these aims.

SLS, or "Selective Laser Sintering," is one of many additive fabrication techniques used in rapid prototyping today. SLS shows a lot of promise as it provides us with an opportunity to, not only, exceed in rapid prototyping, but also make advances in technology toward rapid manufacturing. The process uses a laser to fuse small particles into parts ideal for functional applications directly from 3D CAD data. The parts are created layer by layer using a wide scope of nylon, metal, and polymer powders. SLS shares many similarities with other additive technologies such as SLA, FDM and DMLS. The machine first reads the provided 3D CAD and then scans each cross-section before creating the first layer. After the first layer has been created, the tray, on which the parts are sintered, is lowered by one layer. The next layer of material is then added and the process is repeated layer by layer until the part is created.