Rapid Prototyping Processes
SUPPLY
PHASE

PROCESS

LAYER
CREATION
TECHNIQUE
Liquid layer curing

PHASE CHANGE
TYPE

MATERIALS

Liquid

Stereolithography

Photopolymerization

Liquid layer curing and milling
Extrusion of melted plastic

Photopolymerization

Photopolymers
(acrylates,
epoxies, colorable resins, filled resins)
Photopolymers

Ballistic particle manufacturing Three-dimensional printing Droplet deposition

Solidification by cooling No phase change

Selective laser sintering Layer of powder

Laser driven sintering or melting

Laminated object manufacturing Deposition of sheet material

No phase change

Solid base curing
Fused deposition modeling (FDM)

Powder

Solid

Binder droplet deposition onto powder layer

Solidification by cooling Thermoplastics
(ABS,
polycarbonate, elastomer) and wax Polymers, wax
Ceramic,
polymer and metal powder with binder
Polymers, metals with binder, metals, ceramics and sand with binder Paper, polymers

TABLE 10.6 Characteristics of Rapid Prototyping Processes.

Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, 4th ed.
Kalpakjian • Schmid
Prentice Hall, 2003

Stereolithography

FIGURE 10.41 Schematic illustration of the stereolithography process. Source: Courtesy of
A.S. Alpert, 3D Sytems.

Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, 4th ed.
Kalpakjian • Schmid
Prentice Hall, 2003

Production of a
Stereolithography
File
FIGURE 10.40 The computational steps in producing a stereolithography file. (a) Threedimensional decription of the part. (b) The part is divided into slices.
(Only 1 in 10 is shown.) (c)
Support material is planned. (d)
A set of tool directions is determined for manufacturing each slice. Shown is the extruder path at section A–A from (c), for a fuseddeposition modeling operation.

Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, 4th ed.
Kalpakjian • Schmid
Prentice Hall, 2003

Solid-Base Curing
Figure 19.8 Schematic illustration of the solid-base-curing process. Source: After M. Burns,
Automated Fabrication, Prentice Hall, 1993.

Kalpakjian • Schmid
Manufacturing Engineering and Technology

© 2001 Prentice-Hall

Page 19-10

Fused
Deposition
Modeling
FIGURE 10.42 Schematic illustration of the fused-deposition modeling process. Source: Courtesy of Stratasys, Inc.

Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, 4th ed.
Kalpakjian • Schmid
Prentice Hall, 2003

Support Structures in Rapid Prototyping

FIGURE 10.43 (a) A part with a protruding section that requires support material. (b)
Common support structures used in rapidprototyping machines. Source: Figure