PROTOMA MEETING
ESTSetúbal, June 2003
RAPID PROTOTYPING
TECHNOLOGY
WHAT IS RAPID PROTOTYPING?
RAPID PROTOTYPING (RP) IS ONE OF THE FASTEST DEVELOPING MANUFACTURING
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WORLD TODAY. IT IS DIFFERENT TO THE CONVENTIONAL
FABRICATION PROCESSES (I.E. SUBTRACTIVE TYPE AS MILLING OR COMPRESSIVE TYPE
LIKE CASTING AND MOULDING). UNLIKE THOSE PROCESSES RP IS OF ADDITIVE TYPE,
BECAUSE PARTS ARE BUILT ON A LAYER-BY-LAYER BASIS.
THE PROTOTYPES CAN BE MADE FROM PLASTIC, PAPER, WAX, CERAMICS AND METALS, AND, IN
GENERAL, RP SYSTEMS CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO THREE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BASED ON THE
INITIAL FORM OF MATERIALS USED: LIQUID-BASED (e.g. SL); SOLID-BASED (e.g. LOM) AND POWDERBASED (e.g. SLS).
THE MOST
IMPORTANT RP
TECHNOLOGIES
THE THREE MOST USED RP PROCESSES
SLA
SLS
FDM
RP IN INDUSTRY
INDUSTRIES BEING SERVED
Ot he r
8,7%
Gov e r nm e nt / m i l i t a r y
M ot or v e hi c l e s
23,8%
6,9%
A c a de m i c i nst i t ut i ons
6,7%
A e r ospa c e
8,6%
M e di c a l
10,1%
B usi ne ss m a c hi ne s
9,6%
C onsum e r pr oduc t s
25,5%
RP APLLICATIONS
HOW RP MODELS ARE BEING USED
Patterns for cast
metal
6,3%
Direct tooling
inserts
3,7%
Other
3,8%
Patterns for
prototype
tooling 13,4%
Visual aids for
engineering
16,9%
Visual aids for
toolmakers 5,4%
Proposals
3,6%
Quoting
1,4%
Ergonomic
studies
4,6%
Fit/assembly
18,2%
Functional
models
22,7%
RP TECHNOLOGIES EXISTENT IN
PORTUGAL
 (SL) - STEREOLITHOGRAPHY (2): At AGILTEC (Lisbon) and
CADFORM (Marinha Grande);
 (SLS) - SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING OF PLASTICS, METALS
AND SAND (3): At CENTIMFE and SOCEM (Marinha Grande), and CINFU
(Porto);
 (FDM) – FUSED DEPOSITION MODELLING (2): At CINDOR
(Gondomar) and KLC (Marinha Grande);
 (DMLS) – DIRECT METAL LASER SINTERING (1): At INETI (Lisbon);
 (LOM) – LAMINATED OBJECT MANUFACTURING (2): At
INEGI(Porto) and OCC Guimarães);
 (TDP) – THREE DIMENSIONAL PRINTING (1): At UM (Guimarães).
TOTAL: 11 (4 in Technologic Centres; 4 in Service Bureaus;
2 in Professional Training Centres, 1 in an University.
PROTOTYPES PRODUCED BY LOM
PROTOTYPES PRODUCED BY SLS
PROTOTYPES PRODUCED BY
STEREOLITHOGRAPHY (SL)
PROTOTYPES PRODUCED BY DIRECT
METAL LASER SINTERING (DMLS)
INSERTS (STEEL) FOR INJECTION MOULDING
EDM RAPID ELECTRODES PRODUCED
BY RAPID PROTOTYPING