Analysis of machine accuracy for rapid prototyping of quality components

Ever-growing global competition forces manufacturers to deliver more competitive products with better quality, lower price and in short time. One of the most important and challenging tasks faced by value-added product manufacturing industry is substantial reduction of product development time. Rapid prototyping technologies have received significant interests fr-om both research and industrial communities. Due to the model accuracy, integrity and strength problems, their applications are limited. The most common sources of errors in the rapid prototyping and manufacturing systems including Cubital machines can be categorized as mathematical, process-related or material-related errors. In this paper, we present an analysis of accuracy of a Cubital Solider 4600 machine and an application on pattern and mould design and manufacturing. The experimental study determines the relationships between the machine accuracy and dimensions and parameter setting, which can be used to control the accuracy of parts to be built.