From drawing board to finished product
The term ‘Rapid Prototyping’ is used is to describe the process that follows on from the initial design stage. Rapid protoytyping is a system of developing three dimensional stereolithographic designs for a number of applications and purposes. A virtual design is taken from the computer, and then is converted intoa physical three dimensional model of the prototype. The finished article will correspond identically to the original computer model: this is know as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) process. Data is transferred from CAD models and subsequently, the model can be layered up accordingly and thus the final model is created by a three dimensional printer.
For Solid Freeform Fabrications, multiple materials are used in the construction of the prototypes; the reason for this is that in order to create ‘negative volumes’, such as voids within models, a material with a low melting point has to be used.
The main material of construction has a high melting point and thus once the main model is constructed, it can then be heated to melt the internal materials to produce the voids and negative volumes.
Our rapid prototyping techniques have the advantage of being able to create objects and elements for our clients in a single step process with high repeatablility, both cost effectively and carbon neutrally.
At Starjammer, we take your ideas and concepts and try to put these into a physical model, a model that can be developed into a workable development prototype for small or long manufacturing runs. A prototype is an early representation of an object or a model built to determine the feasibility of a concept or process. There is often great uncertainty with regards to a new design and how it will function or perform.
There is also the unexpected, where a model will not behave or operate in the way that it was intended to. Prototypes are used as part of the design process to allow designers and engineers to determine the ability of a concept, as well as to explore any design alternatives, test theories and examine its performance prior to manufacture of the final product.
We utilitise 3D printing techniques in a number of materials, colours and finishes to produce a prototype that can be taken to full production at scale. Call us for a quote on 01243 933203.