Knowledge sharing by Guangdong Shunde Teamwork Model Technology Co., Ltd, whom with over 20 years rapid prototyping experience.
Email: ken@gdtwmx.com
Website: www.gdtwmx.com
In casting production, the manufacture of stencils, core boxes, wax-types, die-casting dies, etc. is often done by mechanical processing, sometimes requiring trimmers to be trimmed, time-consuming and costly, and not highly accurate. Especially for some thin-walled castings with complicated shapes, such as blades of aircraft engines, marine propellers, cylinders of cylinders for automobiles, tractors, cylinder heads, etc., the manufacture of molds is a difficult problem. Although some large-scale foundries also import some advanced equipment such as Cnc Machine tools and copy milling, in addition to the expensive equipment, the mold processing cycle is also very long, and because there is no good software system support, the machine programming It is also very difficult. Faced with the competition in the economic market in the world today, the upgrading of products is accelerating, and the current status of casting mold processing is difficult to adapt to the current situation. The emergence of rapid prototyping manufacturing technology provides a promising new path to solve this problem.
Rapid prototyping technology
Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology, also known as rapid prototyping technology, is one of the fastest growing manufacturing technologies in the world today. Rapid prototyping technology originated in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Alan J. Hebert (1978) of 3M Company of the United States, Xiao Yuxiu (1980) of Japan, Charles W. Hull (1982) of US UVP Company, and Japan. Maruyama Yoji (1983) independently proposed the concept of RP in different locations, namely the idea of creating three-dimensional entities using layered manufacturing. Charles W. Hull, with the continued support of UVP, completed a complete system called Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA), which was built automatically. The system was patented in 1986, a milestone in the development of RP. In the same year, Charles W. Hull and UVP shareholders established 3D System. At the same time, other forming principles and corresponding forming systems have been successfully developed. In 1984, Michael Feygin proposed the method of Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM), and in 1985 he founded Helisys. In 1992, he launched the first commercial forming system LOM-1015. In 1986, C. Deckard, a graduate student at the University of Texas, proposed the idea of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). Later, DTM was formed. In 1992, SLS-based commercial forming system Sinterstation was developed. Scott Crump proposed the concept of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) in 1988. In 1992, the first commercial model 3D-Modeler was developed.
Since the development of SLA light forming technology in the mid-1980s, there have been dozens of different RP technologies since the late 1990s. In addition to the above, there are typically 3DP. However, the four technologies of SLA, LOM, SLS and FDM are still the mainstream of RP technology.
China's RP research work started
Rapid prototyping is another major breakthrough in the manufacturing field after NC technology in the 1960s and an important part of the advanced manufacturing technology group. It combines computer-aided design and manufacturing techniques, laser technology, and materials science to quickly create 3D solid models or parts with arbitrarily complex shapes and functions without the need for traditional molds and fixtures. The rapid prototyping and manufacturing technology will significantly shorten the time-to-market for new products and save new product development and mold manufacturing costs. Developed countries in the United States, Japan, and Europe have applied rapid prototyping technology to aerospace, aerospace, automotive, communications, medical, electronics, home appliances, toys, military equipment, industrial modeling (engraving), architectural models, machinery industries and other fields.
The research work of RP in China started in the early 90s. At the beginning, there were many technologies introduced. Since 1994, more than 20 enterprises or institutions in China have introduced RP machines from abroad, which has accelerated the development of new products and achieved huge economic benefits. However, due to the high price of introduction, such as the SLA250 system produced by 3Dsystem in the United States, the price of SLA500 is 200,000 US dollars, and the price of SLA500 is as high as 400,000 US dollars. In addition, the materials are also imported, which makes the production cost too high, which is often unacceptable to domestic enterprises.
Domestic RP began to commercialize and promote its application
In order to solve the urgent demand for RP in China's manufacturing industry, since 1991, with the support and support of the Chinese government, some institutions of higher learning and research institutions have actively carried out RP research and made great progress.
China's earliest work in rapid prototyping technology includes Tsinghua University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co., Ltd. These units had a different focus on developing system equipment in the early days. In 1992, Tsinghua University introduced the advanced SLA-250 light curing forming equipment at that time, and established a laser rapid prototyping center to carry out research on rapid prototyping technology. Developed the world's largest LOM double-scanning forming machine, which has been supplied to domestic automobile manufacturers. The successful multi-functional rapid modeling system MRPMS has entered the international market. The self-developed large-scale extrusion-jet forming RP equipment SSM1600SSM has been formed. Up to 1600 × 800 × 750mm3, also ranked first in the world. Xi'an Jiaotong University has been committed to the localization of SLA molding materials and equipment for many years, and has won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award 2000 and the first prize of Science and Technology Progress of the Ministry of Education. Since 1991, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has started research on RP technology with the support of the government. In 1994, it successfully developed LOM prototypes and introduced commercialized LOM molding equipment to the market in 1997. At present, the unit has developed a series of LOM equipment, and also successfully launched commercial SLS equipment. The school also uses the laminating technology to quickly manufacture molds and reproduce aluminum molds and cast iron modules. The research results have been commercialized by the AFS 300 Laser Rapid Prototyping Machine (SLS) developed by Beijing Longyuan Company. The company's RP Service Center has produced many precision molds for industrial enterprises.
In addition, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and North China Institute of Technology have also done a lot of work in this field. For example, in the rapid manufacturing of molds based on rapid prototyping technology, Shanghai Jiaotong University has developed a computer-aided rapid manufacturing system with casting molds with independent intellectual property rights in China, and has manufactured a variety of molds for the automotive industry. At present, some domestic RP equipments are close to or reach the level of similar products of American companies, the price is much cheaper, and the price of materials is cheaper. China has initially formed a manufacturing system for RP equipment and materials. In recent years, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China has established a number of service organizations that provide rapid prototyping technology to enterprises in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Shanghai, Xi'an, Nanjing, Chongqing, etc., and has begun to play a positive role in promoting The wide application of rapid prototyping technology in China has made the development of China's RP technology on the track of specialization and marketization, and contributed to the development of the national economy.
Rapid prototyping technology is a high-tech that is constantly improving with wide application prospects. With the increasingly fierce market competition, this technology will be adopted by more and more enterprises, playing an increasingly important role in the development of enterprises, and will bring huge economic benefits to enterprises. At the same time, rapid prototyping technology as a multi-disciplinary professional technology, its own development will also promote the development of related technologies and industries.
August 12, 2020
