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Imagine that you have been empowered to lead the development team in designing an innovative and ergonomic re-design of a product that has been successfully embraced by the consumer marketing for over 50 years. Establishing a new design presents you with some interesting challenges. You need to communicate the usability of this design, acquire feedback and buy-in from multiple departments throughout the Corporation. Not a simple task. You decide you need a physical prototype to demonstrate usability with marketing and acquire tooling modification feedback from the design engineers. The problem, you need the prototype produced quickly in a cost efficient manner. Thanks to 3D Systems solutions, you were able to gather and incorporate information from all departments involved in the development process earlier on. The end result, a successful product launch that will carry your company into the 21st century.
The demands for more accurate castings for both small and large parts are increasing. They can be found in almost every industry in the world today and in every country. No longer a simple process, casting now requires a high degree of accuracy and employs various types of metals and alloys.
Our stereolithography apparatus (SLA) produce a three-dimensional object directly from digital data. As designers created parts to be cast they used SLA casting patterns. These patterns have been successfully cast with accuracy similar to the original CAD design. The benefit to designers is that the casting patterns are interpreted directly from the CAD design thereby allowing them greater control over the end casting. Stereolithography patterns are useful as patterns for several forms of casting technologies, including shell investment casting, precision sand casting, vacuum casting, die casting and others.
To further complement the SLA and its ability to build physical three-dimensional models, we introduced ThermoJet, our 3D printer. Used primarily as a tool to build 3D models for design communication, ThermoJet builds models in a material similar to casting wax. Although not as accurate as the SLA casting pattern, ThermoJet is a low-cost alternative to castings that do not require significant accuracy or a smooth surface finish. Together these tools from 3D Systems take the investment casting process to a new level of accuracy and convenience.
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