Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping provides solid component representations in short timescales, without the need for expensive production tooling. Having an accurate 3D representation is the best form of design communication. Viewing and interacting with the product as it will be in the final instance.

Rapid prototyping all the components allows for a trial assembly, checking component fit, and highlighting any required changes. Identifying any problem areas in these early stages, avoids costly mistakes when committing to production tooling.

Every project is different, and demands different properties from the prototype. That's why we offer a variety of techniques to ensure we can deliver what is needed. The techniques employed are: SLA, SLS, FDM, CNC and Rapid Tooling. Many of these techniques are able to produce strong working components, with similar properties to the intended production components. Please contact us at sales@race-technology.com to discuss your requirements.

A brief overview of the techniques available is given below:

SLA - Stereolithography is a common technology for producing parts to a high accuracy with a good surface finish. The process uses a photopolymer resin and a laser. The laser is numerically controlled and it traces a cross sectional pattern across the resin, solidifying it. The solidified part lowers by one layer thickness and the next cross section is traced over the top, adhering the new layer to the previous one. This process continues to complete the part. The parts produced are typically for visual purposes only as the parts are fragile. This technique is used in the Rapid Tooling process which produces polyurethane plastic parts, see below.

SLS - Selective Laser Sintering uses a high power laser to fuse small particles together. The materials used can be plastic, metal, or ceramic powders. The laser traces a cross-sectional pattern, fusing one layer of powder together. The piece is lowered and a new layer of material is applied on top. The laser traces another cross-sectional pattern, fusing the new layer to the previous one. This process is repeated until the part is complete. The results are stronger than SLA parts, structurally functional parts are possible.

FDM - Fused Deposition Modeling uses coils of material filament, which it melts and distributes using a numerically controlled nozzle. The material hardens immediately after it leaves the nozzle and the built up layers form the solid component. Using engineering plastics such as ABS can produce structurally functional parts.

CNC - Computer Numerical Controlled Machining uses a solid block of material as a starting point. The material is then removed to create the final object. High accuracy functional prototypes are possible using this technique. The variety of materials that can be machined makes CNC a very effective prototyping technique. Machining plastics such as ABS for example can give a high quality functional prototype. Many parts can be produced using the intended production material; machining the part from this same material will give very similar properties to the intended production component.

Rapid Tooling – Rapid Tooling produces strong functional plastic and rubber parts. The process uses polyurethane to produce parts from silicone molds using vacuum casting and SLA techniques. Firstly an SLA component is created and from this a silicone mold is created. The mold is then used to produce the desired form using vacuum casting equipment. The molds can be reused a small number of times (the amount of casts per mold will depend on the part being made), so it is ideally suited to producing small batch quantities.

This technique offers the ability to mold in inserts; meaning that any threads or bushes (typically brass inserts) that would be insert-molded into an injection molded part can be incorporated into the prototype. The material hardness is also an option; polyurethane can vary in harnesses, giving hard plastic or rubber qualities.