UNIT-V

RP Applications
The major breakthrough of RP
technologies in manufacturing has been
their abilities in enhancing and improving
product development while at the same
time reducing the costs and time required
to take the product from conception to
market.
FINISHING PROCESSES

➢ As there are various influencing factors such as

shrinkage, distortion, curling and accessible
surface smoothness, it is necessary to apply some
post-RP finishing processes to the parts just after
they have been produced.
➢ These processes can be carried out before the RP
parts are used in their desired applications.
Furthermore, additional processes may be
necessary in specific cases, e.g., when creating
screw threads.
 Sand-Blasting and Polishing

Sand blasting or abrasive jet deburring can be used

as an additional cleaning operation or process to
achieve better surface quality. However, there is
a trade-off in terms of accuracy. Should better
finishing be required, additional polishing by
mechanical means with super-fine abrasives can
also be used after sandblasting.
 Coating

Coating with appropriate surface coatings

can be used to further improve the
physical properties of the surface of
plastic RP parts. One example is galvano-
coating, a coating which provides very thin
metallic layers to plastic RP parts.
 Painting
Painting is applied fairly easily on RP
parts made of plastics or paper. It is
carried out mainly to improve the
aesthetic appeal or for presentation
purposes, e.g., for marketing or
advertising presentations.
APPLICATIONS
IN
DESIGN
 CAD Model Verification
➢This is the initial objective and strength of RP
systems, in that designers often need the
physical part to confirm the design that they have
created in the CAD system.
➢This is especially important for parts or products
designed to fulfill aesthetic functions or that are
intricately designed to fulfill functional
requirements.
 Visualizing Objects

➢Designs created on CAD systems need to be

communicated not only amongst designers
within the same team, but also to other
departments,
➢like manufacturing, and marketing. Thus, there
is a need to create objects from the CAD
designs for visualization so that all these
people will be referring to the same object in
any communications.
 Proof of Concept

Proof of concept relates to the

adaptation, of specific details to an
object environment or aesthetic aspects
(such as car telephone in a specific car),
or of specific details of the design on the
functional performance of a desired task
or purpose.
 Marketing and Commercial Applications

➢ Frequently, the marketing or commercial

departments require a physical model for
presentation and evaluation purposes, especially for
assessment of the project as a whole.
➢ The mock-up or presentation model can even be
used to produce promotional brochures and related
materials for marketing and advertising even before
the actual product becomes available.
 APPLICATIONS IN
ENGINEERING, ANALYSIS
AND PLANNING
➢Other than creating a physical model for visualization or
proofing purposes, designers are also interested in the
engineering aspects of their designs.
➢This invariably relates to the functions of the design. RP
technologies become important as they are able to provide the
in formation necessary to ensure sound engineering and
function of the product.
➢What makes it more attractive is that it also save development
time and reduce costs. Based on the improved performance of
processes and materials available in current RP technologies,
some applications for functional models are presented in the
following sections.
 Scaling

RP technology allows easy scaling down (or up) of the size of a

model by scaling the original CAD model. In a case of designing
bottles for perfumes with different holding capacities, the
designer can simply scale the CAD model appropriately for the
desired capacities and view the renderings on the CAD software.
With the selected or preferred capacities determined, the CAD
data can be changed accordingly to create the corresponding RP
model for visualization and verification purposes (see Figure ).
 Form and Fit
Other than dealing with sizes and volumes, forms
have to be considered from the aesthetics and
functional standpoint as well. How a part fits
into a design and its environment are important
aspects, which have to be addressed. For
example, the wing mirror housing for a new car
 Flow Analysis

Designs of components that affect or are affected by

air or fluid flow cannot be easily modified if produced
by the traditional manufacturing routes. However, if
the original 3D design data can be stored in a computer
model, then any change of object data based on some
specific tests can be realized with computer support.
Typically, flow analyses are necessary for products
manufactured in the aerospace, automotive, biomedical
and shipbuilding industries.
 Stress Analysis

➢In stress analysis using mechanical or photo-

optical methods or otherwise, physical replicas of
the part being analyzed are necessary. If the
material properties or features of the RP
technologies generated objects are similar to
those of the actual functional parts, they can be
used in these analytical methods to determine the
stress distribution of the product.
 Mock-Up Parts

“Mock-up” parts, a term first introduced in the aircraft

industry, are used for final testing of different
aspects of the parts. Generally, mock- up parts are
assembled into the complete product and functionally
tested at pre-determined conditions, e.g., for fatigue.
Some RP techniques are able to generate “mock-ups”
very quickly to fulfill these functional tests before the
design is finalized.
 Pre-Production Parts

➢ In cases where mass-production will be introduced once the

prototype design has been tested and confirmed, pilot-production
runs of ten or more parts is usual.
➢ The pilot-production parts are used to confirm tooling design and
specifications.
➢ The necessary accessory equipment, such as fixtures, chucks,
special tools and measurement devices required for the mass-
production process are prepared and checked.
➢ Many of the RP methods are able to quickly produce pilot-production
parts, thus helping to shorten the process development time,
thereby accelerating the overall time-to-market process.
 Diagnostic and Surgical Operation Planning

➢ In combining engineering prototyping methodologies with

surgical procedures, RP models can complement various
imaging systems, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
and computed tomography (CT) scanning, to produce
anatomical models for diagnostic purposes.
➢ These RP models can also be used for surgical and
reconstruction operation planning.
➢ This is especially useful in surgical procedures that have to be
carried out by different teams of medical specialists and
where inter- departmental communication is of essence.
Design and Fabrication of
Custom Prosthesis and Implant
RP can be applied to the design and
fabrication of customized prostheses and
implants. A prosthesis or implant can be
made from anatomical data inputs from
imaging systems, e.g., laser scanning and
computed tomography (CT).
In cases, such as having to produce ear prostheses, a scan
profile can be taken of the good ear to create a
computer-mirrored exact replica replacement using RP
technology.
AUTOMOTIVE
INDUSTRY
Prototyping Complex Gearbox Housing for
Design Verification
➢ Prototyping Advanced Driver Control System with
Stereolithography

➢ Using Stereolithography to Produce Production

Tooling

QuickCastTM generated patterns and the investment cast

inserts for the rear wiper-motor cover
BIOMEDICAL
INDUSTRY
Operation Planning for Cancerous Brain
Tumor Surgery
Planning Reconstructive Surgery with RP Technology
 Craniofacial Reconstructive Surgery Planning

CAD model from laser scanner data of a patient’s facial details SLA model of a patient’s
facial details
 JEWELRY
INDUSTRY
The use of RP technology in jewelry design and manufacture offers a significant
breakthrough in this industry. In an experimental computer- aided jewelry design
and manufacturing system jointly developed by Nanyang Technological University
and Gintic Institute of Manufac- turing Technology in Singapore, the SLA (from
3D Systems) was used successfully to create fine jewelry models

An investment cast silver alloy prototype of a broach (right), the

full-scale wax pattern produced from the silicon rubber molding
(center), and the two-time scaled SLA model to aid visualization
(left)
AEROSPACE
INDUSTRY
 Design Verification of an Airline Electrical Generator

Engine Components for Fanjet Engine

Prototyping Air Inlet Housing for Gas Turbine

Engine

Polycarbonate investment-casting pattern (right) and the steel air inlet housing (right) for a jet
turbine engine (Courtesy DTM Corporation)
COIN INDUSTRY
2D artwork is read into ArtCAM, the CAD/CAM system used in the system, utilizing a Sharp JX
A4 scanner.

Two-dimensional artwork of a series of Chinese

characters and a roaring dragon