机电专业英语 教学课件 作者 杨寿智 刘水平 Lesson 20.pptVIP

Lesson 20 Rapid prototyping Text Rapid prototyping is the automatic construction of physical objects using solid freeform fabrication. The first techniques for rapid prototyping became available in the late 1980s and were used to produce models and prototype parts. Today, they are used for a much wider range of applications and are even used to manufacture production quality parts in relatively small numbers. Some sculptors use the technology to produce complex shapes for fine arts exhibitions. Rapid Prototyping (RP) is currently the most advanced method for quickly creating a prototype. This is achieved by using a Rapid Prototyping machine. Rapid Prototyping machines can produce prototypes in a very short time. Depending on the complexity of the prototype, it may take anywhere from a matter of hours to a few days for its completion. Rapid prototyping is also commonly called solid free-form fabrication, layered manufacturing, or computer automated manufacturing. Rapid prototyping takes virtual designs from computer aided design (CAD) or animation modeling software, transforms them into thin, virtual, horizontal cross-sections and then creates each cross-section in physical space, one after the next until the model is finished. It is a WYSIWYG process where the virtual model and the physical model correspond almost identically. With additive fabrication, the machine reads in data from a CAD drawing and lays down successive layers of liquid, powder, or sheet material, and in this way builds up the model from a series of cross sections. These layers, which correspond to the virtual cross section from the CAD model, are joined together or fused automatically to create the final shape. The primary advantage to additive fabrication is its ability to create almost any shape or geometric feature. The word rapid is relative: construction of a model with contemporary methods can take from several hours to several days, depending on the method used and the size and complexit