RP (Rapid Prototyping) vs AM (Additive Manufacturing)

Rapid Prototyping & Additive Manufacturing, are they the same?

In short, no is the answer. Well I guess you wouldn't want to stop here, lets have a look on the differences between them.

RP (Rapid Prototyping) has been discussed in the earlier post, in case you need to have a quick refresh, click here

AM (Additive Manufacturing) is also known as 3D printing, it means producing end parts by converting computer data into solid 3-dimensional objects. Well it also goes layer by layer hence the name is called.

The size of AM machine is usually smaller compared to a RP machine. This means the end products are usually small in size for AM machine. But it is more versatile and can comfortably fit in an office environment or home desk without consuming huge space. Also, the price of an AM machine is relatively cheap and usually ranges from few hundreds to thousands dollars whereas a RP machine might cost you a couple of thousands dollars. From the huge price difference, one should expect to obtain a lower accuracy end product from AM. Also, the material availability for AM is quite limited, however massive R&D is being carried on, and it is believe that more variety of materials or even mix materials can be used in a single manufacturing process.

Rapid Prototyping (RP)

What is Rapid Prototyping (RP)? What are the advantages?

Today we would like to talk about Rapid Prototyping (RP)

From the name itself, RP means producing prototypes rapidly

Compared to traditional prototyping manufacturing process, the main objective of RP is to reduce the cost and time. Cost is the most critical element you would think of when you are running a business, a lower cost indicates a higher net profit or more affordable by customers. The time here is closely related to lead time, which is the duration from sourcing raw material to customer acceptance.

Besides, RP is able to produce parts with higher complexity consistently without being fatigue like a human. Conventional prototyping are man made, and often high skills are required to produce accurate and complex components. We all know that to get up to that level, practices and experiences are a must. A person might be spending years to reach that level, but nowadays with RP, even a novice could produce a high quality prototype using RP processes. Also RP is able to produce complex models such as nested ball etc

Currently there are a number of RP systems available in the market, most commonly used is the SLA. SLA uses laser beam to solidify the polymer which turn into solid. The laser traces each layer and the blade re-coats the surface once a layer is cured. This process is repeated for a few hundred or thousands time depends on the model geometry and complexity. 

From the process above, we found that RP process actually build the model layer by layer. This is something very different from old technology like moulding, or even longer history subtractive method. RP offers a good technique to form a part from software drawing to solid object within few hours instead of days or weeks. It is an emerging technology and it has drawn a lot of attention from entrepreneurs and medias. The reason for the former to be eyeing on this technology is because people know that technology is changing business nowadays, and they are determined to find out how RP will change their businesses in the short and long term visions.