{"id":41025,"date":"2020-10-13T15:43:43","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T19:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/?p=41025"},"modified":"2021-07-16T17:06:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T21:06:58","slug":"what-is-rapid-prototyping-a-complete-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/what-is-rapid-prototyping-a-complete-guide","title":{"rendered":"What is Rapid Prototyping? \u2013 A Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rapid\nprototyping can, put simply, change the way you do business. Not only does\nemploying 3D printing in the development process speed up the time-to-market of\na new product, but it can save money and headaches. This guide will lay out how\nand why rapid prototyping can enhance your new product development — and how\nShapeways can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is rapid prototyping?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rapid prototyping, to put it simply, takes you\nfrom napkin sketch to final product rapidly. A major bottleneck in the product\ndevelopment cycle is in prototyping. Traditional prototyping workflows often\ninclude outsourcing the creation of each prototype, waiting weeks — and\nspending significantly — for every new iteration, however tweaked or\noverhauled design changes may be. With rapid prototyping, those weeks between\niterations may become days, taking months or years for standard prototyping\ncycles down to weeks, and getting your new product to market in a much more\nagreeable timespan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is 3D Printing \/ Additive\nManufacturing \/ Rapid Prototyping?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Rapid prototyping today often means bringing in 3D printing technologies — or are they rapid prototyping processes, or is that additive manufacturing? It may help to understand just what additive manufacturing is (and Shapeways has a guide for that!<\/a>) and how these technologies fit into the prototyping workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Additive Manufacturing?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a digital manufacturing\nprocess in which a CAD model is used to create a solid object. A variety of\ntechnologies are defined as being additive, as these processes add material\nover the course of the build, rather than subtracting it as seen in many\ntraditional manufacturing methods (e.g., CNC milling). Materials are deposited,\noften in a layer-by-layer process, using a 3D printer to build up the geometry\nof the model in three dimensions. AM processes can handle a variety of metals,\nfrom simple plastics to various metal alloys, from food pastes to biomaterials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s The Difference Between 3D\nPrinting, Additive Manufacturing, and Rapid Prototyping?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There are several ways of referring to these technologies, most commonly \u201c3D printing\u201d or \u201cadditive manufacturing,\u201d though \u201crapid prototyping\u201d is also used. For a fuller explanation, we dive into technology terminology in this article<\/a>, but in short:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3D printing and additive manufacturing are\noften used interchangeably to refer to effectively the same processes. Additive\nmanufacturing is recognized as a more industrial term, and tends to encompass\nexpensive professional machinery being used in applications from prototyping to\nend-use product production. 3D printing can refer to the process of\nlayer-by-layer building of an object, or more generally to refer to any usage\nof this technology, from hobbyists using inexpensive desktop systems to\nprofessionals using industrial equipment. Rapid prototyping was one of the\nfirst terms used for these technologies, which in the 1980s were geared toward\nthe rapid production of prototypes and for a few decades so dominated usage\nthat this application was synonymous with the tech itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the purposes of this guide, 3D printing is\na technology suite used for the application of rapid prototyping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapid Prototyping Materials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that we know what rapid prototyping is, a\ngood follow-up question is straightforward: What are some of the material options\nfor rapid prototyping with 3D printing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When using 3D printing from prototype to\nproduction, the same technology can be used throughout the product development\ncycle. That does not, however, mean that the same materials are necessarily the\nbest choice at every step. Early stages of prototyping may focus more on speed\nand rough idea than on a \u201cfinal look\u201d quality, so inexpensive plastics are\noften the best fit here, when several iterations may be made in fairly quick\nsuccession. Each refinement in prototype may call for a better-quality\nmaterial, and staging material selections can help cut costs, keeping the\nfiner-detail options for only later-stage planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During initial prototyping stages, a low-cost\nmaterial can be used with low infill and thicker layers, lowering material\ncosts and speeding print time to create a rough-and-ready first look at a new\ndesign. Whether plastic or metal, 3D printing can quickly fabricate a product\nthat will come to look and feel just like the desired end result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By starting with a low-cost plastic material\nand moving after a few iterations to metal, for example, a product that will\neventually be conventionally fabricated using metal can come to market much\nmore quickly than would be the case by machining each iteration \u2014 a traditional\npathway that ultimately costs much more in terms of time, money, and labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Material options in additive manufacturing may\nnot run the full gamut available in traditional technologies, but new\nformulations are becoming available all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Among Shapeways\u2019 broad 3D printing materials portfolio<\/a>, the most commonly used for rapid prototyping is Nylon 12 (Versatile Plastic)<\/a>. This material is a durable nylon plastic that can be used for a wide range of applications, both for prototyping and for end products. The SLS material can be 3D printed thin for flexibility — think hinges and springs — or thicker to build up structural components. Nylon 12 is affordable, has the fastest lead time (shipping as quickly as three business days from order), and is available in a wide range of colors. It can also be bonded with other materials, electroplated, or otherwise adaptable to your specific application\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other well-suited offerings for rapid prototyping include Multi Jet Fusion Plastic materials (PA12<\/a> and PA12 Glass Beads<\/a>) for added stiffness and durability, and SLA (Accura 60<\/a>, Accura Xtreme<\/a>, Accura Xtreme White 200<\/a>) for fine details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more in-depth information on any of these materials, see Shapeways\u2019 Materials Guide (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits Of Rapid Prototyping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s all well and good, but when it comes\ndown to it, is there an actual business case for prototyping with 3D printing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question gets a resounding YES! Using 3D\nprinting from product concept to creation can help reduce the time and costs\nneeded to get your new idea to market and into the hands of your eager\ncustomers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In broad strokes, the product development\ncycle includes the need for physical prototypes at several stages of design\nincluding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n