Rapid Prototyping Development | CNC Prototyping

New developments in rapid prototyping

Dekker, Carl

Looking to the future

Rapid Prototyping Association

What developments are we likely to see in rapid prototyping (RP) technology over the next five or perhaps 10 years? With new machines able to produce metal products from various materials and the expanding development of polymers used in mainstream RP equipment, I believe that over the next five years new developments in rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies will come from two primary directions.

One direction will be regarding the materials available for generating products. As materials become better in properties, the ability to use the parts in a production environment widens. This means that parts will be able to perform for the intended product life. These parts could be components for aerospace products, custom manufactured products, or tools and dies for manufacturing other materials.

The second direction will be a change in the paradigm of the engineering community where products will be designed for the manufacturing process. As rapid prototyping becomes a manufacturing tool, the release of constraints on design geometry will allow engineers to design products not able to be conventionally manufactured. Taking into consideration the properties of RP materials, changes in the engineering of the product can be done to make the design more functional. This will allow products to be made which previously were thought impossible to manufacture due to their being too costly to develop or produce.

Can we look for major breakthroughs? As far as RP technology and materials have developed, I do not see any major breakthroughs in the manufacturing process. Any breakthrough would come from materials development. In order to make a major breakthrough in the creation of the first article, a major breakthrough in the imaging of a product would be needed. Currently, there are no means to generate a true solid image, so the manufacturing is confined to the resolution of layers and the ability to project these layers. If an ability to project a true solid image could be achieved, a means to convert that into a solid part would still take a number of years to develop.

Any improvements from the existing technologies would be incremental. All developments are being focused on the materials available for additive manufacturing. As these materials improve, the ability to use the technology to manufacture the final product will gain acceptance. To make a major development, a completely new system of manufacturing an object would need to be investigated and developed.

Will we see rapid manufacturing become commonplace? Rapid manufacturing, or using rapid prototyping technology for the manufacture of short-run production parts, is becoming more familiar and will be getting more attention and development from numerous business sectors. Some of the first signs of this will appear in the aerospace and medical industries. However, as with any technology, rapid manufacturing will have difficulties in processing, causing setbacks in its becoming more generally accepted.

What does the future look like for rapid tooling? Rapid tooling has had setbacks in its development on all fronts. It has not been discarded, and as developments continue, the small breakthroughs will be what is needed to make it become a viable and mainstream tool for the manufacturing community. Developments are underway in defining rapid tooling for all RP materials and systems, as that will be the largest area for growth for any system manufacturer.

And growth will not take place without major vehicles for obtaining and sharing information like IMTS. Will such a show continue pretty much as it is today, or will there be major changes? IMTS is this hemisphere's flagship show for manufacturing, a chance for people in the workplace to meet and gain knowledge from experience, as well as a forum for new technology debuts. Will it become a virtual show? No. Although information is conveyed daily in virtual environments, people will always need the opportunity to meet and speak face-to-face with colleagues and vendors. The ability to meet with many vendors at once is one of the prime opportunities conferences and trade shows provide.

Will we see IMTS broken up and held in several cities? Although it is beneficial to have a series of small, remote conferences throughout the country, smaller venues are limited in what can be presented, and not always as appealing a place to spend travel and training budgets.

What will its role be five, 10, or 20 years from now? This is something that will be forged by the participants' involvement, vendors and attendees alike. For the short term I do not see any major changes.

Carl Dekker Met-L-Flo Geneva, IL

Copyright Society of Manufacturing Engineers Jul 2002
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