I r,

-'I.

5.

6.

7.

Napid

Chapter 1 introduction

Mcmt(/i"ICflll'ing

l'arl Orienta/ion and Scaling. RP systems huild J.<arts ak>ng thL' Z ax1,; (f th(.ll"
STL mudd>. Through reorientation of the parts n;lativt: tv the moue I l'<imdinatc
systems, th.::ir accunu;y, surf;u;e finish and build time can be OJllinlist'd. Sum,
IU' systcms allow several pans to be nested in ttw system chamber in nnkr '" l":
huilt simultant:vusly. In utltlition, the p:uts ~~an b1~ scaled to complnsatc tor
anticipated anomalies that might be intrvdutcd by downstream pn<.:esst:s ,uch as
ddormation. shrinkage, warpage ami eurling.
5'upport ,\'rmctures Cj'eneraliun. Liquid-basctl RP processes require suppc.>rt
stru1:tures tt> build overhanging areas of the parts. These structures arc ltstt:JIIy
generated automati~:ally employing specialised software tools. The areas
requiring suppo11 structures can bt! minimist!tl by uppropriatcly selecting the p;ut
build dirt!clion.
Settin.~-11p c!l Process Parameters. Process-related parameters an: <:illtTt'd !o
spcci ty the bui Jd style and desired system attributes. Thest! paramdcrs ~:an bL
adjusted based on pm1 requirements and the Rl' material being used.

21.> Slice /)uta Cieneratiun. The STL life is sliced to produce surccssivL~ nos.'iscction;J! layl:'r~. In t>ad1 cross section, polylines arc used to appn>.\Jmate tht'
exterior ami interior boundaries of l.he RP models. These polylim: bou11daries
C<lll be nt1set by a part.icular value to compensute for process enors. Tih' slice
data can be generated ofl:fint! forth~: entire model or on-line, on, nt>;:s-,.cctit>ll
at a time during pm1 building.

The process data gcncrated following the stagt::s outlint::d above is shH"td 111 <1 build
file. This life contains all the intiwmationnct::dcd to guide material additiY: pn.,csso
to build 3D objects.

/';'

References
Buese C (1 1)04) U.S. Pahnt 774,549.
Hcaman J.l ( 1997) Histori~:al Perspective, Chapter 3 in JTEC/WTEC Panl'l Report
nn Rapid Prototyping in Europe :md Japan, WTEC Hypcr-T.ibrnrian
(http://itri.loyula.edu/rp/toc.htm).
Ulanthcr JJ..:: (IH'n) U.S. Patent 473,901.
Drile EuRum (19')4) Common layer interli1ce (CLI), Vt!rsion 1.31. Hritc F:u~am
Project BE2578, RPT - Development ~nd Integration ur Rapid prototy1~ing
Techniques for Automotive Industry.

DiMatteo l'L (1971i) Mt!!hod of generating and const111cting thrce-dirnensiltnal

hollies, U.S. Patent 3,932,923.
Dolenc A and Mule Ia I (I 992) Leaf: a data exchange ronnat for LMT processes.
Proc. 3th International Conference on Rapid Prototyping, Dayton, lIS A, pp 412.
~
Ga~kiu

TA (1973) U.S. Patent 3,751 ,!Q7.

Herbert AI (19R2) Solid object generation .. 1. Appl. Jhoto. En;:., Vol R, 4, pp 1:\5RR.

Jacobs PF ( 1996) Stereuhthography and Other RP&M Teclmiques, ASME Pq!ss,

New York.
Kai CC, Jacob GGK and Mei T (1997) lntcrtlJcc between CAD and Rapid
Prototyping systems. Pa11 2: LMI
/1n l~r1proved JntL~rlitce, lnt J. Adv. Man:11f.
Tcchnol., Vol. I3, pp S7 I -S7f>.
Kodama H ( 1981) Automati~: lllt!lhod for fabricating a three dimensional plastic
moue! with photo-hardening polymer. Rev. Sci. lustrum. pp I 770-177?>.

1.4

Summary

RP technologies have emerged as a key clerncnl ofTCE with their ability to shorten
the product design and dcvelopmept process. This chapter has provided an overview
of the chronologic<tl dcvdupments in the areas of RP. The role of3D modelling as a
gateway tLl RP has been di~~.:usseu anu the advanr.ages ami disadv:mtagcs of the
available geometrical ~epresentation techniques outlined. Also, the existing formats
Ji.Jr interfacing CAD and RP sysrems have been described together with the' maiu
stages in g.:ncraling the necessary dntn to build 3D objects in layers.

Kunieda M and Nakagawa T (1984) Development oflaminated drawing dies hy laser

eutting. Bull. of JSPE, pp 353-354.
Matsubara K (1974). Japanese Kokai Patent Application, Sho 51 [ 1976)-1 OR 13.
Monteah FH ( 1924) U.S. Patent I ,516, 199.
Morioka I (1935) U.S. Patent 2,015,457.
Mori0ka I (1944) lJ.S. Patent 2,350,796.
Munz OJ (1956) U.S. I'ntent 2,775,75tl..
Nakagawa T et al. (I 979) Blanking tool by stacked bainite steel plates. Press
Tcehni<,ue, pp 93-1.0 I.
Nakagawa T, Kunieda M and Liu S ( 19R5) I ,<tser cnt shcc1 laminaled fnnmng dies by
diffusion hn!Hling, Pruc. 25th International MTDR Conference. pp 50)-51 0.