Whenever the issues of Prototypes and Prototyping
is being researched or discussed, we often forget that not every participant or listener is adept with the series of information that informed minds assume to be known. Here, we are going to hear the basics of how the concepts of Prototypes and Prototyping
came to be in the words of an Expert Author - Dennis Baxter...
An Intro to 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping
By Dennis Baxter
Three-dimensional printers are being called one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. Experts say that 3D printers will lead to a third industrial revolution and a flurry of innovative products and applications.
These high-tech printers have already received a lot of press for their ability to create architectural models, medical implants, bone grafts and artificial organs, but very few people understand how they work.
The revolutionary concept of 3D printing or rapid prototyping starts with a CAD drawing. This detailed plan is input into an advanced inkjet-style printer that can build 3D objects and models using thousands of stratified layers. The printer translates the image into instructions and creates a visible pattern that replicates the CAD design. Rapid prototyping simplifies and streamlines the process for creating physical models and industrial prototypes.
There are more than 50,000 3D printers in service today. These high-tech wonders are already becoming cheaper and smaller. One company manufactures a 3D printer for home offices that retails for just under $10,000. This compact model is roughly the size of a standard office printer, but it can produce high-quality industrial prototypes. Another manufacturer is offering a 3D desktop printer for less than $2,500. This proves that 3D printers are already accessible design and production tools that will become standard accessories in architectural offices and engineering firms. The basic desktop model is capable of producing individual layers that are as thin as a standard piece of copy paper. Because each layer is roughly 100 microns thick, the process for creating a complete prototype can take a significant amount of time. However, it is still much faster and more efficient than traditional model-making methods.
Currently, 3D printers can construct objects using layers of glue, sawdust, ceramic, metal, plastic, carbon fiber, resin and other substances. Three-dimensional printers that use resin require UV or other light-based systems to cure the material. Experts are also developing ways to print cloth and substitutes for human tissue. These materials are housed in a printer cartridge and expelled or extruded using tightly focused nozzles.
The Benefits of Rapid Prototyping.
Three-dimensional printers are already being used by architects, engineers, designers and medical professionals. The streamlined production process makes 3D printing a time-saving and affordable alternative to traditional modeling and molding methods that require complex manual processes. Multi-process prototyping technology and artistic modeling techniques are now being replaced by printers that can interpret and recreate a digital design in moments.
Many industry experts believe that 3D printers have the potential to bring skilled manufacturing and prototyping jobs back to the United States and other first-world countries. These high-tech devices have the power to save companies time and money by eliminating the need to create models manually. The prototypes produced by 3D printers also have a higher degree of accuracy than handmade models. This is a valuable feature when presenting an architectural model to clients. Three-dimensional printers and rapid prototyping tools produce amazingly accurate and precise representations of CAD drawings in a short amount of time.
The fast production time and the accuracy of the finished prototype are the two primary benefits of 3D printers. In the past, creating a one-off model was a tedious and time-consuming process. Today, 3D printers allow anyone to create a one-of-a-kind prototype or an architectural model in moments using a pre-made CAD drawing. Architectural models can be recreated or updated quickly by...
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