While the primary processes of additive manufacturing have not changed greatly over their lives, the intense focus on the materials has allowed for this area to develop into a fairly mature offering of choices for the user. What makes this a bit more complicated is that the technology path of each of the RP processes (Stereolithography, [...]
Browsing Posts tagged additive fabrication
3-D printing makes the New York Times! I read this article today and thought it was informative to both a newcomer as well as an industry veteran. Good info on the development of the market for affordable 3-d printers. A great read for those involved in rapid prototyping. The Wow Factor of 3-D Printing Enjoy.
Check out this article released today by Desktop Engineering. It’s really informative and perfect for a forum like this. A good summary of the last 20 years or so, along with a focus on what has been happening lately. Some great information and images. Evolution of Rapid Technologies Also – if you’re looking to learn [...]
In the beginning before Rapid Prototyping….there was the evolution of 3D CAD.CAD was first developed over 20 years ago with the development of personal computers. The first company to become a leader in the CAD world was Autodesk with a product called AutoCAD. This was the first software product that allowed the user to produce [...]
Standard Tessellation Language (STL) is a file format native to the Stereolithography software created by 3D Systems. This file format is supported by many CAD software packages and is widely used for rapid prototyping and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).STL is a facet-based representation that approximates surface and solid entities only with triangles (i.e., STL files describe [...]
Rapid prototypes are used for a number of different applications; functional testing, marketing show models, trade show models, etc. With such wide number of end uses, the type of finish used on the stereolithography (SLA) model becomes very critical. One of the often overlooked finish option categories is the WaterClear/QuickClear finishes. These finishes allow the parts to be [...]
One of the technologies out there that been gaining momentum in the additive fabrication space is Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). Over the past few years this process has transitioned from being looked at strictly as a rapid prototyping solution to now being considered for rapid prototyping and final end use production. The aerospace and industrial [...]
