Comparative study of material addition rapid prototyping technologies and efficient machine selection to defined part requirements

• Grant number: 12/10981-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Manufacturing Processes
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo de Senzi Zancul
• Grantee: Juliana Cavalcante da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Rapid Prototyping is a set of object manufacturing processes from projects implemented in CAD systems. This research involves the study of the additional material RP process, generally called 3D printing. Despite the growth in the adoption of these new technologies, there is still a great lack of documented information and methodologies. The motivation for this study is the difficulty encountered by RP new users in safely defining the process and thus the 3D printing machine which best suits the requirements of the part that will be manufactured, a problem which tends to intensify with the spread of these processes. The creation of a catalog that allows the selection of RP machines from given requirements is the proposed solution to the problem explained. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to establish the general requirements that will serve as parameters for printer selection, through the study of different technologies and information about the prototyping machines available. In possession of the analysis, the result is obtained by applying the multicriteria selection method, which will associate the part requirements and the machine parameters, indicating the best choice among the available machines. (AU)