Design is a matter of balance: weight vs. strength, cost vs. quality, speed vs. accuracy, and so on. As development progresses, prototyping is an essential part of the balancing process, and ...

Product developers and engineers who design and manufacture plastic parts now have a powerful new weapon in their arsenal: 3D printing. This disruptive technology has great promise for rapid ...

The ZBuilder Ultra makes high-end functional plastic prototypes. The unit is said to rival injection molding’s accuracy, material properties, detail, and surface finish. The machine lets users verify ...

Aluminum alloy cylinder head for engine or pump, showing oil channels. On the subject of rapid prototyping, 3D printing often dominates the conversation. The speed, digital flexibility, and low ...

Now a mature industry, rapid prototyping is diverging to two distinct applications: lower-priced 3-D printers and those that manufacture customized parts. The push to trim equipment prices is creating ...

Ming Leu has seen the future of rapid prototyping, and it is very cool. Leu, the Keith and Pat Bailey Missouri Distinguished Professor of Integrated Product Manufacturingat UMR, has an idea for making ...

There are thousands of plastics on the market that can be used for rapid prototyping or low-volume manufacturing—choosing the right one for a given project can be overwhelming, especially for ...

3D printing (as known as three-dimensional printing) is a type of rapid prototyping technology. It is a technology that uses powdered metal or plastic and other bondable materials to construct objects ...

In part one of this two-part article, design engineer Michael Paloian outlined the first four milestones of a product-design project, ending with the “cornerstone” of the product-design cycle — ...