Rapid prototyping is a relatively new field in the design and manufacturing industries. By utilizing rapid prototyping, companies can create models of 3D designs using a number of prototyping techniques.
There are several reasons a company would use rapid prototyping. First, a company can quickly create an iteration of a new design, which allows them to test and retest a complete finished part without the expense of manufacturing. Using this process, a company or engineer can mock up a design, test features, evaluate form and function and perform other tests, like conducting a focus group, in order to evaluate the design of a new product. Having the ability to quickly alter the design and create a new version at a low cost makes it easier for companies to create better designs.
The second application of rapid prototyping is the creation of parts that will be used in the field. For many manufacturing companies, creating parts for a short run, say 25 to 200 pieces, can be costly. If it is a standard part, such as a connecting tube with flanges that would normally be molded from ABS plastic, rapid prototyping can save thousands of dollars. With materials capable of withstanding high pressure that are also strong and flexible, parts can be made that meet very rigorous standards.
A third application of rapid prototyping is the creation of fixtures that can be used during the manufacturing process. Take, for example, an assembly line where people are installing components into a small part. An engineer can spend the time to design a tool that holds the part properly, but it still has to be made. This is where rapid prototyping can be used to deliver low-cost, reusable fixtures for the assembly line. If the design of the fixture were to change, the fixture can be easily recreated and replaced with the new design.
Lastly, rapid prototyping is within the reach of nearly anyone with a computer and an idea. This opens the door to a future where you can just print a replacement part for a broken toy, create your own unique model, or even design your own custom chess set.
As a process, rapid prototyping has the ability to make the job of a designer a little easier by allowing him or her to focus on the design. It also provides a way for companies to save on manufacturing costs for low-quantity items, and it can increase productivity in many areas of the production industry.
What’s the Hype?
Although the promise of 3D printing is extremely bright, there is still a lot of hype surrounding 3D printing and the use of it in various industries. 3D printing has been touted as the beginning of the end for manufacturing, the road to creating replacement organs, and the best thing since sliced bread! Be wary of the hype; there’s a lot out there. Thankfully, over the past few years, the hype has simmered to a low rumble, but it’s still there.
3D printing has been adopted by a large number of industries, with quite a thrilling outlook on the future. But that future has changed from even a year or two ago. In 2009, consumer 3D printing was relegated to the enthusiast, and it was years until truly consumer-useable 3D printers were available. Even today, that market is still just a tiny part of the overall 3D printing marketplace. Where there was once the promise of a 3D printer in every home, the reality is that the industry just isn’t there yet.
However, with today’s medical innovations and the experimental use of 3D printing in medicine, there’s talk of printing new livers, even hearts! While that may be one possible future, it is far from the reality we see today. That’s not to say that 3D printed knee replacements, 3D bioprinted human tissue, and windpipe stents are not amazing things; however, they are far from the hype in their current state.
3D printing is by far one of the most amazing technologies to come along in the 20th and 21st centuries. We need to look at the applications with one foot planted firmly in reality. And today’s reality, while very cool and cutting-edge, still has a way to go to catch up to the hype.
Process of 3D Printing
The principle of rapid prototyping involves the idea that you can take a 3D model and build it using successive layers of a material. This is also known as 3D printing.
First established in the early 1980s, neither the concept nor process of 3D printing has changed much over the years. What has changed, however, is both the price and the technology used for creating a 3D printed model.
The process begins with a designer, engineer or artist creating a 3D model in one of the many design programs on the market today. That model is then saved out to a format that will be used by the 3D printer, generally an STL file.
The printing process uses software specific to each printer, though they all do basically the same thing. The printing software takes the STL file data and slices it into layers that the printer is able to print.
Different printers use one of a handful of 3D printing processes. A majority of the 3D printers used in rapid manufacturing use a plastic filament that is laid down one layer at a time using a heated print head; others use ultraviolet light to cure layers of plastic resin; and some lay down a layer of fine material in an inkjet-like process that sprays a polymer to create the layer of the model. No matter which method you use, the process is generally the same.
What Can You Do with Your Model?
Printed parts can be used in a number of different applications. If you would like to test a concept or evaluate a design, a printed part is a great place to start. By creating a printed prototype, you can analyze many elements of the design and modify the part as necessary without the expense of traditional prototyping. A 3D printed part is also a great way to help you establish a new process.
With the high quality of available materials and the high degree of precision that many printers are capable of producing, printed parts can also be functional components. Using printed alternatives for pieces is particularly useful when you are designing a small-run of a part. Using a printer to create small parts can save design and engineering firms a great deal of money.
There’s one thing about 3D printing that can’t be overlooked, it is simply a fun way to create. When 3D printing, if you can think of an idea for an invention, a piece of art, or anything else that you can dream up, you can bring it to life.
Traditional Workflow
In the past, when you worked in design or product development, you went through a multi-stage process. After part development, you would have to create a part mold. The mold would then be used to create your finished product. If the part wasn’t produced accurately the first time, there was often a considerable amount of cost involved in both material and time to rework the concept.
Traditional prototype creation can take days, even weeks to get a model built to specifications. Models were often made by hand from a variety of materials, like clay, paper, Styrofoam and a host of other options. Ones that were machined were made on lathes, or on more modern CNC machines.
The problem is the design process has to slow down to accommodate the prototype creation process, often leaving little time or money for redesigns and modifications. Cost is another issue that traditionally has limited the number of prototypes that can be created. Machining a part can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Once the prototype is created, it can be tested and reviewed, then compared to the desired result. Edits and changes are then incorporated into the design, and the process starts all over again, taking more time and financial resources. With the traditional method of prototype development, many products get to market with flaws or design elements that are undesirable, or worse, cause the failure of a product after it has been brought to market and sold to customers.
Rapid Prototyping Workflow
With the introduction of 3D printing into the design and engineering workplace, the prototyping process underwent a dramatic change. No longer would the prototyping process be the drag on the design of a part. Instead, it would greatly enhance the process and reduce the time it took to get a part from the idea stage to the production stage.
Instead of weeks to get a prototype back from being created, it now takes hours or days. Not only is the time reduced, but what once cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, now costs significantly less, even just a few dollars. The reduced time and cost allows designers and engineers to work in near real-time, with the design and prototyping functions happening at nearly the same time.
Real-time prototyping, with only a few hours separating the design from the prototype, is radically changing how designers and engineers work from day to day. With 3D printing, often at or near a work area, a product that in the past may have undergone two or three prototypes, can now have a dozen or more prototypes created.
The increase in the number of prototypes and the reduction in cost has given designers and engineers a new-found freedom. Combined with the power of Autodesk Inventor, and its powerful features, you are freed to create better, more tested designs than ever before.
Enhanced Production Workflow
3D printing had a dramatic effect on the overall production workflow. The traditional production method is very similar to the traditional prototyping method in that it is a linear process. Once the design is complete, products are produced using a time-tested process. This process changes based on the type of process needed for manufacturing a particular part. However, the process limits the flexibility of the developer of the product. Once the production process begins, changes to the design become more and more expensive as the process moves through the various stages.
Cost / Time
The enhanced production workflow for manufacturing using 3D printing changes the equation when it comes to the cost of manufacturing and product design changes.
While traditional manufacturing can allow for very low-per-part production costs, in comparison, the cost of changing a 3D printed manufactured part is a different story. The biggest advantage of 3D printing for manufacturing is that the cost of making changes at any step in the process is minimal or nonexistent. Unlike traditional manufacturing, without the need for tooling or molds, there is virtually no added cost for changing the design. At any step in the design process and at any time, you can simply use the newest model of the design and start production with it.
Faster to Market
One other advantage 3D printing offers to product designers and engineers is the ability to move through the prototype stage with more iterations. Instead of taking days or weeks to get a prototype developed, it can be done in hours, allowing engineers and designers get their products to market faster than ever before.
Better Products
3D printing allows designers to get their products to market faster than ever before. One of the added benefits of being able to create multiple prototypes and test them is the final product can be made better. Not only better, but the final product is also produced with fewer defects. Because designers have the ability to make more changes, they can add additional features and design elements that would not otherwise have been possible.
Lower Costs
The lower cost piece of the production equation is primarily based on prototype and low-run manufacturing of products. The cost savings for prototyping a part can be significant over traditional methods, like machining and CNC routing. Often, a machined part could cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to produce and take days to weeks to get back from the producer. Whereas a 3D printed version of the same model costs a fraction of the machined part, and can be printed in a matter of hours.
For low run production, 3D printing can save a considerable amount over traditional manufacturing techniques. A process like injection molding normally requires expensive tooling and molds in order to produce a large quantity of parts at a low cost. However, if only a limited number of parts are needed, say hundreds or just a thousand or so, 3D printing will cost considerably less than injection molding.
Steven Schain is the postproduction supervisor for all CADLearning products from 4D Technologies, specializing in the development of Media & Entertainment CADLearning products for Autodesk, Inc., software, including 3ds Max software and Maya software.
Learn more with the full class at AU online: 3D Printing — Examining the Reality and Possibilities.