MCAD Modeling Methods-Real-life Replicas1 Sep, 2005 By: IDSA
,Mike Hudspeth 3D printing and rapid prototyping revolutionize
design process RP (Rapid Prototyping) has been around for some
time now, but its downstream applications and derivations such
as 3D printing, RP and rapid tooling offer more exciting
potential than ever before. All you do is build a 3D computer
model of the part you want and send it to a machine. Presto!
Using a variety of techniques, the machine produces the part for
you, usually in just a few hours. The first RP device I ever saw
was a 3D Systems SLA (stereolithography) machine. This type of
machine is still in widespread use today. It builds a model one
layer at a time. Software breaks a 3D computer model into a
series of layers, each only 0.005" thick, and sends them to a
laser, which begins to draw on the surface of a vat of
photocuring polymer. Wherever the laser touches, the resin
hardens. The vat has an elevator that raises and lowers a
platform in 0.005" increments. When the las