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Automating the Art to Part Process
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# : |
19931 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1992 |
2,758 Words |
| Author
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Angelo DePalma
Angelo DePalma, a free-lance writer specializing in science
and technology, resides in Newton, New Jersey. |
Ask 10 vice presidents of manufacturing at 10 different companies what gives them nightmares, and chances are all 10 will respond, "Making a prototype." There is no activity more crucial to the success of a product, or as prone to error, as translating a drawing or blueprint into a solid model.
The more pieces or parts that go into a product, the more difficult it is to prototype. And there are no shortcuts to successful prototyping: Each component part must be designed separately. That means about 10 prototypes for a ballpoint pen, several hundred for a transistor radio, and between 15,000 and 25,000 for an automobile.
During the last decade a group of related technologies has emerged, collectively called rapid prototyping (RP), that allows engineers to make solid models almost as easily as entering a design into a computer. To understand the value of RP to modern manufacturing it is necessary to know something a bout conventional prototyping.
How Products Are Designed
Each year tens of billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of person-hours are spent on prototyping. Long before a product can be mass produced, engineers must design form (how does it look?), fit (how do the pieces go together?), function (will it work?), and manufacturability (how will it be made?) into the product's component parts.
Traditionally, evaluating fit, form, function, and manufacturability requires an iterative process of design, modeling, evaluation, and redesign, until a prototype or final model is made. At each iteration a new part must be fashioned by hand (usually with the help of machine tools) out of clay, wood, plastic, or metal. If the blueprints do not reflect the actual physical specifications of a piece, or if the machinist misreads the blueprint, it's back to the drawing board. And the later in the overall manufacturing process a mistake is discovered, the more costly it becomes.
Enter RP
In contrast to methods that make parts from bulk material by carving, cutting, grinding, etching, machining, or molding, most RP techniques build a part by solidifying powders or liquids, one layer or one point at a time. Building a part one inch high may take as long as three hours-slow by production standards but incredibly fast when compared with
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