Rapid Prototyping (2) Page 2

Within the past few decades, robotic arms have allowed the manufacturing industry to develop into the fast production entity it is today. First used in the automotive industry, robotic arms can be programmed to take on any task that calls for high repeatability and precision. Today, robotic arms are used in almost every industry imaginable: from medical, to agriculture, to electronics manufacturing- and additive manufacturing tools like 3D printing is making the technology even more accessible.

Congratulations, you just finished designing your CAD model! Now, what's the next step? Prototyping! It's the next phase in the design cycle that helps you mitigate and reduce errors and issues. Prototyping allows you to test your model for functionality and design features. It has become more affordable and accessible as this trend continues at a non-linear rate. This phase decreases the time to market and increases productivity. Newer enhancements offer a more functional prototype and ability to rapid manufacture. Let’s review several things that you can leverage today to help make your prototypes in an efficient and affordable way.

In our previous blog post, we walked through the process of setting up an airflow study over the front of the Thunder Roadster. We used SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation to set up a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis to verify that incoming air is adhering to the surface of the car and entering the hood scoop at racing speeds. With the results verified, the next step is to design new inlet components to route as much of that air to the engine as possible to improve performance.

RAPID+TCT was last week in Detroit and there were a lot of manufacturers, large and small, showcasing their advancements in the additive world. RAPID is one of the largest additive manufacturing conferences in the US and has been running for the last 30 years. At this show, many manufacturers announce their new technologies, so it’s usually an exciting show. This was my first RAPID and I was excited to see what all the big manufacturers were showing off as well as to see some of the more emerging technologies like bioprinting. Below are some of my highlights from the show.

This week's Product Story showcases Milwaukee School of Engineering and their use of Stratasys F123 series printers and Stratasys materials.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) offers an innovative partnership between business and education in its Additive Manufacturing Lab. Students have the opportunity to work with businesses as they address unique challenges that arise when developing new products. The engineering students partner with Additive Lab consortium members to find a solution for these challenges.

TriMech’s solution partner, Stratasys, has recently signed an agreement with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Don Schumacher Racing. This agreement allows the automotive teams to leverage the Fortus and F123 series of 3D printers as part of their additive manufacturing process to stay ahead of the competition by accelerating component prototyping, proof-of-concept and finished ultralight usable components. 

3D printing a functional prototype is one of the most critical steps in the development of any product or solution. It allows for testing, hands-on fit and finish testing and the ability to make design iterations on the fly before the final product is made. It allows for problems and defects to be found quickly, saving you both time and money. Plus, prototyping can be done in 5 easy steps.

Magic is in the air this holiday season at TriMech with all of the new toys we’ve been getting here in our print lab lately. Since we’ve been given the gift of an incredible new Stratasys J750, I decided that it would be great to get into the holiday spirit and create a miniature winter scene to share with some of my clients and co-workers that don’t get to experience all of the charm and joy that snow brings this time of year.

The J750 is Stratasys’ new flagship PolyJet 3D printer, capable of creating some of the most amazing parts and assemblies you can imagine. Here at TriMech, we’ve upgraded to the newest version of the J750 with all of the latest updates, and we’re all incredibly excited to start making new parts that fully take advantage of what this state of the art system can do!