Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing. Designs made through CAD software help protect products and inventions when used in patent applications. CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for print, machining, or other manufacturing operations. The terms computer-aided drafting (CAD) and computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) are also used.
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power and heat source to sinter powdered material, aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined by a 3D model, binding the material together to create a solid structure. It is similar to selective laser melting; the two are instantiations of the same concept but differ in technical details. SLS is a relatively new technology that so far has mainly been used for rapid prototyping and for low-volume production of component parts. Production roles are expanding as the commercialization of AM technology improves.
Fibre-reinforced plastic is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass, carbon, aramid, or basalt. Rarely, other fibres such as paper, wood, boron, or asbestos have been used. The polymer is usually an epoxy, vinyl ester, or polyester thermosetting plastic, though phenol formaldehyde resins are still in use.
Stereolithography is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a layer by layer fashion using photochemical processes by which light causes chemical monomers and oligomers to cross-link together to form polymers. Those polymers then make up the body of a three-dimensional solid. Research in the area had been conducted during the 1970s, but the term was coined by Chuck Hull in 1984 when he applied for a patent on the process, which was granted in 1986. Stereolithography can be used to create prototypes for products in development, medical models, and computer hardware, as well as in many other applications. While stereolithography is fast and can produce almost any design, it can be expensive.
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer control, with the material being added together, typically layer by layer.
STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. Chuck Hull, the inventor of stereolithography and 3D Systems’ founder, reports that the file extension is an abbreviation for stereolithography.
Design for manufacturability is the general engineering practice of designing products in such a way that they are easy to manufacture. The concept exists in almost all engineering disciplines, but the implementation differs widely depending on the manufacturing technology. DFM describes the process of designing or engineering a product in order to facilitate the manufacturing process in order to reduce its manufacturing costs. DFM will allow potential problems to be fixed in the design phase which is the least expensive place to address them. Other factors may affect the manufacturability such as the type of raw material, the form of the raw material, dimensional tolerances, and secondary processing such as finishing.
Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printing or "additive layer manufacturing" technology.
Tailored fiber placement (TFP) is a textile manufacturing technique based on the principle of sewing for a continuous placement of fibrous material for composite components. The fibrous material is fixed with an upper and lower stitching thread on a base material. Compared to other textile manufacturing processes fiber material can be placed near net-shape in curvilinear patterns upon a base material in order to create stress adapted composite parts.
Solid Concepts, Inc. is a custom manufacturing company engaged in engineering, manufacturing, production, and prototyping. The company is headquartered in Valencia, California, in the Los Angeles County area, with six other facilities located around the United States. Solid Concepts is an additive manufacturing service provider as well as a major manufacturer of business products, aerospace, unmanned systems, medical equipment and devices, foundry cast patterns, industrial equipment and design, and transportation parts.
Solid ground curing (SGC) is a photo-polymer-based additive manufacturing technology used for producing models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts, in which the production of the layer geometry is carried out by means of a high-powered UV lamp through a mask. As the basis of solid ground curing is the exposure of each layer of the model by means of a lamp through a mask, the processing time for the generation of a layer is independent of the complexity of the layer. SGC was developed and commercialized by Cubital Ltd. of Israel in 1986 in the alternative name of Soldier System. While the method offered good accuracy and a very high fabrication rate, it suffered from high acquisition and operating costs due to system complexity. This led to poor market acceptance. While the company still exists, systems are no longer being sold. Nevertheless, it's still an interesting example of the many technologies other than stereolithography, its predeceasing rapid prototyping process that also utilizes photo-polymer materials. Though Objet Geometries Ltd. of Israel retains intellectual property of the process after the closure of Cubital Ltd. in 2002, the technology is no longer being produced.
Rule based DFM analysis for direct metal laser sintering. Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is one type of additive manufacturing process that allows layer by layer printing of metal parts having complex geometries directly from 3D CAD data. It uses a high-energy laser to sinter powdered metal under computer control, binding the material together to create a solid structure. DMLS is a net shape process and allows the creation of highly complex and customized parts with no extra cost incurred for its complexity.
Three-dimensional (3D) microfabrication refers to manufacturing techniques that involve the layering of materials to produce a three-dimensional structure at a microscopic scale. These structures are usually on the scale of micrometers and are popular in microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems.
Design for additive manufacturing is design for manufacturability as applied to additive manufacturing (AM). It is a general type of design methods or tools whereby functional performance and/or other key product life-cycle considerations such as manufacturability, reliability, and cost can be optimized subjected to the capabilities of additive manufacturing technologies.
A variety of processes, equipment, and materials are used in the production of a three-dimensional object via additive manufacturing. 3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing, because the numerous available 3D printing process tend to be additive in nature, with a few key differences in the technologies and the materials used in this process.
The use of microstructures in 3D printing, where the thickness of each strut scale of tens of microns ranges from 0.2mm to 0.5mm, has the capabilities necessary to change the physical properties of objects (metamaterials) such as: elasticity, resistance, and hardness. In other words, these capabilities allow physical objects to become lighter or more flexible. The pattern has to adhere to geometric constraints, and thickness constraints, or can be enforced using optimization methods. Innovations in this field are being discovered in addition to 3D printers being built and researched with the intent to specialize in building structures needing altered physical properties.
3D printing speed measures the amount of manufactured material over a given time period, where the unit of time is measured in Seconds, and the unit of manufactured material is typically measured in units of either kg, mm or cm3, depending on the type of additive manufacturing technique.
Multi-material 3D printing is the additive manufacturing procedure of using multiple materials at the same time to fabricate an object. Similar to single material additive manufacturing it can be realised through methods such as FFF, SLA and Inkjet 3D printing. By expanding the design space to different materials, it establishes the possibilities of creating 3D printed objects of different color or with different material properties like elasticity or solubility. The first multi-material 3D printer Fab@Home became publicly available in 2006. The concept was quickly adopted by the industry followed by many consumer ready multi-material 3D printers.
High-area rapid printing (HARP) is a stereolithography (SLA) method that permits the continuous, high-throughput printing of large objects at rapid speeds. This method was introduced in 2019 by the Mirkin Research Group at Northwestern University in order to address drawbacks associated with traditional SLA manufacturing processes. Since the polymerization reactions involved in SLA are highly exothermic processes, the production of objects at high-throughputs is associated with high temperatures that can result in structural defects. HARP addresses this problem by utilizing a solid-liquid slip boundary that cools the resin by withdrawing heat from the system. This allows for large structures to be fabricated quickly without the temperature-associated defects inherent to other SLA processes.
3D drug printing or “3D printing of pharmaceuticals” is a technology that uses three-dimensional printing techniques to create customized pharmaceuticals, such as 3D printed tablets. It allows for precise control over the composition and dosage of drugs, enabling the production of personalized medicine tailored to an individual's specific needs, such as age, weight, and medical condition. This approach can be used to improve the effectiveness of drug therapies and to reduce side effects.
