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 Next Sequential Tutorial Page...
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Rapid prototyping isn't necessarily very rapid and doesn't necessarily have to do with prototypes, either. Speed is relative: The processes can shave weeks to months off a design cycle, but still may require many hours to fabricate a single object. Prototypes for design evaluation are often made using these processes, but the technology also is beginning to address the direct production of final useful parts and assemblies, and injection molding and other types of tools.
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Additive fabrication technologies have been based on just about every form of matter known to man. Liquids that change into solids with application of light (photopolymers) formed the first generation of practical machines (stereolithography). Quick to follow were methods based on bonding powders (selective laser sintering), extrusion of thermoplastics (fused deposition modeling), stacking of web materials (laminated object manufacturing) and many others. Even gases have been used as a starting point to form small objects. Some idea of the wide variety of approaches that have been utilized can be found on Henri Koukka's Whole RP Family Tree web page.
Object sizes currently addressed by these technologies range from microscopic to entire buildings. Materials range from paper and plastics, to metals and ceramics. Applications range from toys to aerospace and advanced medicine.
There are about fifty companies worldwide that produce rapid prototyping systems. Many of these companies have close relationships with RP material suppliers, and about fourteen of them make systems that are based on some variation of the stereolithography process.
As the systems evolve further and the materials they use become able to accommodate a wider range of desirable mechanical properties, the term, rapid prototyping will become even more of a misnomer. This technology really represents the nascent state of computationally-based manufacturing. The real world is tangible and rapid prototyping is the link between Moore's Law and the tangible world.
From Here...
You can learn about the commercially important rapid prototyping technologies by clicking on a link below, or follow the blue navigation arrows to be guided through the entire tutorial sequence.
Other useful rapid prototyping tutorial web sites:
Solid freeform fabrication / Wikipedia article A work in progress, but it still has a fairly complete overview of the field.Rapid Prototyping in Europe and Japan. This report still provides one of the best overviews even though it's now getting a little long in the tooth.
Penn State University Learning Factory Rapid Prototyping Page. This site provides an extensive introduction to rapid prototyping and practical advice.
Ennex Corp. Introductory materials supplied by Marshall Burns.
Introduction to RP for architectural studies. The The Hong Kong Polytechnic University published this extensive tutorial in 2000. It's also a good general introduction to rapid prototyping, as well.
