MATERIALS IN DESIGN & PROTOTYPING FEATURE I


nitially developed in the mid-1980s and expanded in the 90s, 3D printing


is an additive manufacturing process that is already an established production technique in its own right. It has, in fact, been widely adopted in aerospace and medical industries, as well as Formula 1, where it is commonly used alongside traditional CNC machining and wire erosion methods, primarily to make specific low-volume customised parts. On the other hand, Desktop 3D


printing, which evolved out of the open-source community following a project at Bath University, has only become accessible in the past few years. Much of the coverage in the media today about desktop 3D printing concerns the myriad possibilities for its deployment in the home. In this future world, consumers essentially remove the physical supply chain and download designs from their favourite brands to simply print out their desired product, either at home or perhaps at their local 3D print bureau. Undeniably this is an exciting prospect, but what is far more interesting is what desktop 3D printing can bring to the design process.


DESIGN EMPOWERMENT Desktop 3D printing will blur the boundaries between design and manufacturing, and help to inspire the next generation of designers and engineers. It has the capability to revolutionise product development – machine skills are not required to deliver prototypes, enabling huge time- to-market benefits as well as delivering a significant increase in design freedom. Never have engineers, manufacturers and designers had a tool so capable of producing complex models and geometries in a relative instant on their desk. 3D printing encourages iterative and design-driven manufacturing: objects become more than just visualisations on a computer screen. Designers can touch, feel and operate their creations, obtaining instant feedback and enabling them to redesign and rebuild their product. Importantly, what once took many weeks, needed tooling, had to be sent for casting or outsourced to bureaus, can now be achieved in a matter of days, if not hours.


EMPOWERING a ‘design revolution’


Steve Jukes, senior global category manager for IT,


Security and Batteries at RS Components, discusses how desktop 3D printing will deliver more design freedom


BUILDING AWARENESS Working across many industries, namely the IT, security and battery sectors, I come across a wide spectrum of opinions and visions, and invariably conversations at some point will turn to 3D printing. A common theme, however, is a lack of awareness of the capabilities of 3D printing – and this represents a significant barrier to penetrating professional markets.


To address the issue, one has to start


with the customer and the application: are they designing, modelling, tooling or manufacturing, and is this in-house or outsourced? Which qualities are the most important: the visual aspect, repeatability, tolerance or material properties? Once these individual needs are understood, it quickly becomes apparent that there are countless possibilities and some very large potential markets. It is therefore not surprising that many leading names are now changing their focus to address professional and educational markets.


SUPPORTING INNOVATION RS is continuing to invest in its ecosystem of design resources to support engineering innovation with the free DesignSpark tool suite, including: DesignSpark PCB for board design; DesignSpark Mechanical, which allows the fast creation of 3D models ready for 3D printing; and most recently DesignSpark Electrical for electrical wiring design. Because RS supports the entire design and manufacturer lifecycle we actually


played a significant part in the emergence of the first- and second-generation 3D printers. A number of open-source machines were built using components supplied by RS; the original RepRap 3D printing project used DesignSpark PCB in the development of the electronic boards used in its early printers; and some of the first generation retail


“Desktop 3D printing will blur the boundaries between design and manufacturing,


and help to inspire the next generation of designers and engineers”


The Ultimaker desktop 3D printers are available from RS


products from 3D Systems shipped with RS branded toolkits in the box. Today, desktop 3D printers are becoming increasingly attractive, with some very capable models priced below £2000. In addition, their use in the field is growing, with our customers consuming over 1.1 tonnes of filament each month. As well as our own private label offering, key partners for us are Ultimaker and Verbatim. Ultimaker offers highly affordable desktop 3D printers and has also started the ‘CREATE Education Project’ to facilitate easier access to 3D printers for schools, colleges and universities. And in materials, Verbatim is introducing a number of advanced new filaments that feature properties such as optical abilities, high-impact strength and UV and flame resistance.


MATERIAL MATTERS In the coming years it is clear that we are going to see an increasingly rich choice of materials available – including advanced composites with widely different properties such as conductive abilities – as well as the development of new software techniques to support increasingly complex geometries and design-led iterative manufacturing.


RS Components www.uk.rs-online.com / DESIGNSOLUTIONS DESIGN SOLUTIONS | NOVEMBER 2015 31 T: 08457 201201


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