Solid freeform manufacturing technologies as an important step in the product development process

Solid Freeform Manufacturing has emerged as a valuable tool for rapid prototyping. Its advantages over conventional manufacturing processes for quick product visualization enable companies to spend considerably less money and time in bringing products from the computer tube to the table top. However, to effectively utilize this manufacturing technique to its full potential, its process capabilities must be clearly understood. The constant advances in accuracies, resins, and casting techniques necessitate the requirement to have this data available for the Integrated Product Team. This paper will discuss the importance of relating process capabilities to product features and present a method for automated producibility analysis utilizing component features and process knowledge capture.