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Phone: | 1-843-408-0142 |
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114. The development of rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping become very popular in many companies. And it has already bring us a big change. Believe the rapid prototyping will have a bigger development.
Rapid prototyping is starting to change the way companies design and build products. On the horizon, though, are several developments that will help to revolutionize manufacturing as we know it.
One such improvement is increased speed. "Rapid" prototyping machines are still slow by some standards. By using faster computers, more complex control systems, and improved materials, RP manufacturers are dramatically reducing build time. For example, Stratasys recently (January 1998) introduced its FDM Quantum machine, which can produce ABS plastic models 2.5-5 times faster than previous FDM machines. Continued reductions in build time will make rapid manufacturing economical for a wider variety of products.
Another future development is improved accuracy and surface finish. Today’s commercially available machines are accurate to ~0.08 millimeters in the x-y plane, but less in the z (vertical) direction. Improvements in laser optics and motor control should increase accuracy in all three directions. In addition, RP companies are developing new polymers that will be less prone to curing and temperature-induced warpage.
In fact, the rapid prototyping will have many development. So we should know it more things.