Shape Deposition Manufacturing
Release status: Concept
Description | Hybrid milling/FDM high-accuracy rapid prototyping.
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I am currently a senior in Mechanical Engineering and will be doing my senior project in the area of entry-level rapid prototyping. One of the techniques I want to investigate is the use for milling to improve the accuracy of FDM printing. Here is an example of how it would work.
The FDM process would proceed as normal, however, the software would add something like 0.2mm to the outline of the part. Then once the layer has completed printing, a very fine milling head will mill the outline of the part for superior accuracy. Once it is done, the excess material will have been removed and the part dimensions will be as they were originally intended.
Technology Overview
It's called Shape Deposition Manufacturing. (At least by some people.)
Here's a Stanford Lab that's done a lot of work on it.
http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/biomimetics/ http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/biomimetics/sdm.html
http://bdml.stanford.edu/twiki/bin/view/Rise/ShapeDepositionManufacturing
It's a very cool subject which we'd be very happy to have under the RepRap umbrella. It would mean lots of tiny gears, or gears which mesh nicely etc.
Here is a google scholar search on "shape deposition manufacturing" http://scholar.google.ca/scholar?q=shape+deposition+manufacturing&hl=en&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2001&as_sdtp=on
Let me know if you guys want me to give SDM its own forum.