1998 / DB reference year
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Author Aronson, Robert B.
Source Manufacturing Engineering. v 121 n 5 Nov 1998. 4p.
Abstract Rapid prototyping (RP) is evolving from just a means of making prototypes to a technique for making production tooling, chiefly dies for plastic parts. Initially the prototypes were quite fragile and the various techniques produced products that could only show form. As materials improved and prototypes became stronger, the products could tried for fit and measured. Some systems can produce parts strong enough to run briefly in a machine and do low-volume production of parts. A number of techniques still in the laboratory stage still need debugging. A lot of work is needed to convert them into practical systems that are able to operate at a competitive cost. Some of this techniques are presented. XX