Stratasys

Meet “Urbee,” a three-wheel, two-seat, next-generation hybrid vehicle designed to run on renewable energy and ethanol, and capable of achieving up to 200 mpg highway.

The importance of additive manufacturing (AM) is certainly growing, and many people are being confronted with the tech that they may not have even a basic understanding about.

Besides death and taxes, life can offer another sure thing - change. While it is not exactly a new science to the world of manufacturing, rapid prototyping is considered by many to be an emerging technology still full of surprises. Despite experiencing growing pains, those in the RP industry foresee design engineering, product development and time compression being taken to new places in the time to come.

From initial concept, to design, to rendering, to physical design verification of a full-scale prototype motorcycle made entirely of ABS M30 high-strength, production-grade thermoplastic. That was the process shown at the recently held Autodesk University user conference and expo in Las Vegas sponsored by Autodesk, where the supplier of 2D and 3D design software announced that it is able to generate 3D “prints”—like the chopper—from within its AutoCAD design software. In this case, the “printing” was done by RedEye, a business unit of Stratasys with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).

EBM promises to deliver fully dense parts with properties equal to wrought materials faster than other metal-based additive-fabrication methods. 

Dana Corporation chooses FDM from Stratasys Inc. in order to create highly accurate prototypes quickly and cost-effectively.

Hanil E-Hwa Company, Ltd. (Seoul, Korea) specializes in automotive interior components for passenger, commercial, recreational and heavy construction vehicles. For more than three decades, it has grown into a $668 million (USD) tier one supplier with facilities in the U.S., China, Turkey and India.

Developments in rapid tooling make this technology even more attractive for quick, low-cost, customizable, and even environmentally aware manufacturing.

From the latest in additive technologies to machine programming to getting products to market fast, the TC Expo and Conference is where it all happens.

The various technologies that go into the mix of today's global materials development differ greatly from those used just a decade ago in one specific way: the new resins and polyurethanes rolling off manufacturing lines are being put to use developing the next generation of materials.

Over the past 20 years, additive fabrication technology has migrated from use in rapid prototyping to become a full-fledged manufacturing solution, referred to as “direct digital manufacturing” or DDM. While the general concept of additive fabrication is the same as when it was introduced 20 years ago, the change is in its intended use: production, not just prototyping.

RP machines, once considered only for prototyping, are now being used by a few companies for the rapid production of manufactured products. As this idea continues to grow in popularity, companies and RP groups are viewing RP more and more as simply a method for rapid production. However, industry scribes say that the rumors of RP's (rapid prototyping's, that is) immediate demise are greatly exaggerated.

Is bona-fide personal desktop 3D printing really here? Yes, according to Shane Glenn, director of Investor Relations at Stratasys (www.