With the establishment of digital product development, the use of rapid prototyping models has become firmly established in the development process chain.

Initially, it was more likely to be used as a concept model in the early development phases; today high-quality components made of plastics or metal alloys are used in small and smallest production series. In this context, rapid manufacturing describes the most recent developments in this field.

In all product development phases, the current development status with regard to proportions, ergonomics, handling and design can be checked using RP. In addition, variant studies can be made available to assess the corresponding user groups without tooling and programming costs; such studies are simply and rapidly prepared.
 

The available technologies allow the fabrication of simple plaster models, high-quality, precision plastic models up to high-value components made of diverse metal alloys.

Model materials

• Z printer plaster, including possible coloured texturing
• Objet FullCure materials in transparent, blue and black
• “Fully dense” metals such as pure titanium, titanium alloys, cobalt-chrome alloys (CoCr) or stainless steel.

Contact

Ralf Schumacher
phone: +41 61 467 43 95
Email: ralf.schumacher@fhnw.ch

Sandro Fabbri
phone: +41 61 467 47 97
Email: sandro.fabbri@fhnw.ch

Ahmet Yildiz
phone: +41 61 467 47 43
Email: ahmet.yildiz@fhnw.ch

Erik Schkommodau
phone: +41 61 467 42 46
Email: erik.schkommodau@fhnw.ch