Have you seen some of the recent news articles about physicians and medical practitioners using 3D scans to clone a structure during a heart transplant or reconstructive surgery? Maybe you’ve seen some of the large automobile manufacturers using 3D printing to help speed up production times and explore new frontiers in automotive design. Engineers are now able to expand their designs and feeling free to design without limits! 3D scanning and 3D printing is now being used to create models of human bones, organs, medical devices, personalized prosthetics and human tissues.
3D printed geometric necklace (Flickr: courtesy novabeans).
3D Scanning & Printing for Prototype Building
3D printing is the process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital model – developed using computer software to fabricate objects which then sends it to a 3D printer for output of that final object. Starting as a fast way to build prototypes, 3D printing has exploded and is now being used to create products and instant prototypes in the medical, engineering, art, fashion, automotive and manufacturing industries.
This creative style of printing helps businesses bring products to market much faster than before by giving them the ability to rapid prototype their in-house project needs. 3D printing not only helps lower the costs for prototyping by giving us the ability to leverage near production parts in an insanely fast turnaround, it helps lower costs for prototyping and allows the production of parts without capital investments. It creates new opportunities for innovations that were previously limited only to technology firms. 3D printing provides engineers with new possibilities, giving them more flexibility, and expanding their capabilities. An engineer usually feels constrained by his tools and can become consumed by numerous design; 3D printing gives them the green light all the while helping them open up their minds to become more creative.
No Limits for New Product Designs!
Design is composed of both art and science; and that begins with imagination. 3D printing can quickly transform an idea into tangible reality! Prototypes not only help sell new concepts, they give designers the ability to catch potential flaws, alleviate high costs of re-tooling and rework, and reduce the risk when introducing a new product into the marketplace. They also give the engineers and project leaders something “tactile” to deal with at blinding speeds. By having 3D printing technology at their fingertips, some companies looking to build new product development cycles have found the freedom they need to be more creative and efficient with their designs. In addition, many of our customers realize that having an in-house solution for their 3D needs can add significant benefits such as the ability to protect the confidentiality and integrity of their designs and lower costs overall.
If you can dream it, we can build it! We work with imaginations to make ideas reality.
What We Can Do for You
Aeon Analytics 3D printing capabilities range from standard plastic objects to specialized metal parts. Plastic or wax output can be used as a master pattern for foundries that are casting in bronze, aluminum, iron or other metals. 3D printing and 3D scanning is the new step in technology for design for manufacturing. Honda opted to use the ablation process for their conventional castings as outlined in this article on ablation casting. The conventional sand casting process can be a bit violent and archaic. The ablation method affords the designer some unique benefits. The water to remove the medium also acts as a cooling agent and helps to change the microstructure of the aluminum giving it greater strength properties. Another benefit is the ability to be able to vary the wall thickness which is not available in the traditional process. These key advantages are somewhat of a renaissance in the art of aluminum casting science.
Take a look at a Honda Pilot model where engineers used computer simulations to begin their development processes to save time, costs and speed up the entire process. Read more.
(This blog originally appeared on the 8 Days a Week website).