FABRICACIÓN MEDIANTE TÉCNICAS DE PROTOTIPADO RÁPIDO

Abstract

This paper describes the work carried out in the Product Design Laboratory (PDL) of the Faculty of Engineering of Bilbao, in The University of the Basque Country. This laboratory has focused its research on the fields of Rapid Prototyping and Reverse Engineering, leading to the application of these new technologies in product design processes. Rapid Prototyping technologies are becoming more prevalent in small and medium companies. There is a wide range of technologies available, able to build complex geometries thanks to the layer by layer building process. This article details innovative methodologies to be followed for a manufacturing with these techniques and analyzes the limitations that come up in the process. The developed case studies can be classified in two groups depending on the origin of the model: in the first case, the design is performed using a CAD program (NX5, CatiaV5…), and in the second, the design is developed by means of Reverse Engineering techniques. In both cases a polygonal model is obtained (STL, PLY, VRML… files) which is processed by the software associated to the Rapid Prototyping machines. Keywords: Rapid Prototyping, Product Design, Reverse Engineering