Rapid prototyping is relatively new technology - it basically refers to the expeditious creation of a prototype using computer aided design. There are various techniques involved in rapid prototyping, and the fabrication of the actual part is done in a 3D printer. There are various types of rapid prototype machines some of which use different materials. Some of the most common are the ones that print plastic. Rapid prototyping is used in product design for industries such as aerospace, automotive, medical, valve, power generation - in short, additive manufacturing technology can be useful for any industry where product development is necessary.
There are many different types of rapid prototype machines as well as different prototyping techniques, and each one works differently depending on what material is being used and the end use of the component. Most companies who are involved in product design utilize layered additive manufacturing. Additive layered manufacturing creates parts by generating layer-by-layer of material using a computer aided design 3d model - this is a quick and efficient way to produce prototype parts. Depending on the material used, these machine tools produce parts that have very strong physical properties and can be used in actual machining applications such as fixture or workholding design.
Parts obtained from 3d printing can be close to or actually in-size to finish part tolerances.
The early stages of almost all product design involves many iterations. Traditional prototyping involves many steps a few of which are design, development, experimentation, etc. All development processes are both time consuming and costly and often times necessitates the utilization of machinery that is also used for volume production, which means engaging the traditional manufacturing process and the high costs of producing - just a sample. This entire product development process can be very time consuming and not cost-effective. As the name suggests rapid prototyping - is very rapid, and utilizing this process one can skip all the steps between the product design and building. Using computer aided design one can prototype parts from the 3d printer with a click of button, which is a very quick and efficient process and helps engineers to make decisions regarding product development, functionality and the form, fit and function of the final product.
There are different types of rapid prototyping process. Binder jetting, directed energy deposition, material extrusion, powder bed fusion, sheet lamination, vat polymerisation, wire arc additive manufacturing, etc.. Additive manufacturing technology involves mainly three types :
Sintering technology - This uses metal powder with a direct metal laser sintering so that particles are stuck together.
Electron beam melting - This also uses metal powder which uses electron beams to melt the powder and stuck together.
Stereolithography - This uses a process called photo polymerisation. An ultraviolet laser beams are fired into a vat of photopolymer resin to create ceramic parts which can endure extreme temperatures.
There are many benefits / advantages of rapid prototyping. And since customers and vendors are connected together and able to transfer data easily, multiple designs can now be are created by multiple design teams across the world during product development for any new product. 3d printing gives the design teams ease of access, where they can experiment quickly by growing prototypes and make necessary changes quickly, which is an amazingly cost-effective process, especially in comparison to how tedious the design process used to be.
Rapid prototyping also aids in the quoting phase, as having a physical part in ones hand, is far more helpful than just analyzing a 2D print or cad model. When new new products have complex geometries or interlocking features - it’s an amazing tool to simply ... grow one up quickly so that you can see the finished product and thus determine which machining processes would be best for it’s efficient production.
In short, the evolution of Rapid prototyping technology has radically improved and accelerated the product development phase and made all final product easier to bring to market.
