Influence of Tomographic Slice Thickness and Field of View Variation on the Reproduction of Thin Bone Structures for Rapid Prototyping Purposes-An in Vitro Study

This study assessed the influence of acquisition parameters of tomographic volumes on the reproduction of thin bone structures for rapid prototyping purposes. Two parameters were investigated: Field of View (FOV) and Slice Thickness (ST). The specimen was comprised of five pairs of 0.6 mm, 1.1 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm and 2.8 mm thick cortical bone plates. The plates were stuck into utility wax;the first plate of the pair was in vertical position while the second plate was oblique to the first one. Forty-five tomographic images were captured and separated into 3 groups of fifteen images. Each group had a specific FOV: 180 mm;250 mm and 430 mm, respectively. Within each of these three groups, tomographic slice thickness was varied for every five of the fifteen slices. Acquisitions were carried out with STs of 1 mm, 2.5 mm and 5 mm. The Cyclops Medical Station software was used in the voxel-to-voxel analysis of radiologic density, reaching a total of 1350 assessed images. ST and FOV variation influenced the reproduction of thin bone walls, and FOV was shown to be a very important parameter. The larger the acquisition FOV, the more reduction in the number of voxels within the range of reconstruction for cortical bone in all of the bone plates. The visual analysis of the images of very thin bone walls showed that there could be a sharp drop in the radiologic density value in several adjacent voxels, resulting in areas which might not be reproduced in the reconstruction.

Development of a welding system for 3D steel rapid prototyping process

Metal device rapid prototyping with welding is one of the research interests at present. A controlled inertial droplet transfer MAG welding (CIDTMAGW) process was developed for the 3D steel device rapid prototyping with metal deposition. In this process, by using a special designed wire feeder, a controlled inertia is imposed on the droplet formed on the wire tip and combines with the arc force to make it detached. Thus, according to the requirements of rapid prototyping, the arc heat and the droplet detaching force can be separately controlled to attain a stable and satisfactory metal deposition process. A CIDTMAGW system and a testing manipulator for the 3D steel device rapid prototyping are presented. The required software is completed as well. The experiments proved that the geometric formation of the rapid prototyping device with welding deposition is well agreed the data of the device CAD modeling. The surface of the deposited device is comparatively smooth.

Effects of processing parameters on figuration during the GMAW rapid prototyping process

As a deposition technology, gas metal arc welding （GMAW） has shown new promise for rapid prototyping of metallic parts. During the process of metal forming using the arc of GMA W, low heat input and stable droplet transition are critical to high quality figuration. The effects of various processing parameters on figuration quality were studied in the experiment of GMA W rapid prototyping using the wire of ERSO-6 , including welding voltage, wire feeding rate, welding speed and so on. The optimal parameters for ERSO-6 are obtained. Simultaneously, it is verified that the rapid prototyping parts with favorable structures and quality can be achieved under the conditions of low heat input and stable droplet transition.

Computing the Intersection of a Plane and Geometric Primitives in VRML Model for Rapid Prototyping Software

VRML(Virtual Reality Modeling Language)format as an international standard for virtual reality,has al- ready been widely adopted for graphical representation of 3D objects over the Web.Adopting VRML model in RP(Rapid Prototyp- ing)can reduce the precision loss which is caused by triangulation in generating STL file.Hence exploring a slicing method and de- veloping a slicing software for VRML model is important and significant to improve the accuracy of RP products.Finding inter- sections of a plane and VRML model is the key operation in slicing algorithm.This paper presents a method for calculating the in- tersections between a set of parallel planes and VRML geometric primitives.Based on the analysis of the relative position between a plane and a geometric primitive,intersection conditions in all cases were obtained,and the geometric parameters and corresponding equations of intersections were derived.The algorithm had been tested,and applications show that it is robust and effective.

Simulation and Optimization of Amplitude-adjusting Performance of Crane with Virtual Prototyping Technology

In the design of crane,designers often have to study the trajectory of amplitude-adjusting of crane.The tradition- al methods,illustration and analytics both show their limits.In this paper,the simulation of process of amplitude-adjusting is presented and the optimization is also performed with virtual prototyping technology.From the comparison of original solution and optimal solution,the effectiveness of this technique is testified.On the platform ADAMS/View,the interactive optimization can be performed in a visual,intuitive and credible way,which deserves to be introduced to the design of crane.

Jet electrodeposition oriented by rapid prototyping

The system components and the theory of jet electrodeposition orientated by rapid prototyping (RP) were introduced. The nanocrystalline copper parts with simple shape were fabricated by this rapid prototyping technology. The microstructure evolution of the nanocrystalline copper layer was examined by means of the scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the jet electrodeposition can greatly enhance the limited current density, fine crystalline particles and improve deposition quality. The copper deposited layers have nanocrystalline microstructure with average size of 55.6nm. The grain size decreases to 41.4nm on crystal plane (311).

On-line detection system of weld-based rapid prototyping process based on structured light

In order to realize the closed-loop control for rapid prototyping process based on gas metal arc welding, the geometric parameters of weld beads should be detected. In this study, a vision sensor system consisting of a linear laser projector and a CCD camera was designed to collect images of weld beads. Then, an image processing approach which combines with a Gaassian filter and an improved gravity method was used to extract the centerline of a light stripe based on VC ＋＋. Feature points of the centerline were identical directly by means of an image fusion algorithm. Experimental results show that image fusion is an effective approach to measure the width and height of the weld bead with high accuracy. This method can identify beads effectively in multi-pass welding and avoid designing different modes to suit all kinds of shapes.

Finite element analysis of temperature field during multi-layer multi-pass weld-based rapid prototyping

During weld-bused rapid prototyping, the component experiences complex thermal process. In this paper, the temperature field evolution, thermal cycle characteristics, and temperature gradients of multi-layer multi-puss weld-based rapid prototyping are investigated using three-dimensional finite element models presented. The single-puss weld-bused rapid prototyping experiment is carried out. Thermal cycles calculated agree with experimental measurements. Furthermore, simulated results indicate that there exist the pre-heating effect of the fore layer and the post-heating effect of the rear layer in the multi-layer multi-pass weld-based rapid prototyping. In the first layer, the heat accumulates obviously. After the first layer, the dimension increase of the high temperature region behind the molten pool is not obvious. The heat diffusion condition in the first layer is the best, the heat diffusion condition in the second layer is the worst, and the heat diffusion conditions in the higher layers improve gradually.

Modeling of welded bead profile for rapid prototyping by robotic MAG welding

As a deposition technology, robotic metal active gas （MAG） welding has shown new promise for rapid prototyping （ RP） of metallic parts. During the process of metal forming using robotic MAG welding, sectional profile of single-puss welded bead is critical to formed accuracy and quality of metal pans. In this paper, the experiments of single-pass welded bead for rapid prototyping using robotic MAG welding were carried out. The effect of some edge detectors on the cross-sectional edge of welded bead was discussed and curve fitting was applied using least square fitting. Consequently, the mathematical model of welded bead profile was developed. The experimental results show that good shape could be obtained under suitable welding parameters. Canny operator is suitable to edge detection of welded bead profile, and the mathematical model of welded bead profile developed is approximately parabola.

A Photo-Modeling Approach to Restituting 3D Model Data from Single 2D Imagery for Rapid Prototyping of Artifact Products

This article first generalizes the basic engineering phases of modern rapid prototyping processes, and then describes the techniques of data capture for data modeling and model making. The article also provides a brief overview of the photogrametric techniques of restitution of 3D objects, and highlights the difficulties and limitations of existing methods. It therefore presents a novel approach to photo-modeling for acquiring 3D model data from single 2D photorealistic images. Implementation of the approach is then described against a effectiveness of photo-modeling practice. background of rapid prototyping processes to demonstrate the

Study on Control of Pneumatic Selecting and Shifting Actuators Using Rapid Control Prototyping

A gearbox in-the-loop control platform using dSPACE real-time system is designed for the study on the control technology of pneumatic selecting and shifting actuators based on rapid control prototyping.The operational principle of such actuators was analyzed using dSPACE hardware and software,resulting in a better knowledge of the logical relationship among solenoid valves,gear positions of cylinders and system input/output.Based on these,a control model was developed under the Matlab/Simulink environment and rapidly improved to meet requirements through experiments.Relevant tests have shown that analysis efficiency on selecting and shifting actuators could be raised and development of control strategy facilitated.

3D Flash Display for STL Model in Rapid Prototyping System

A kind of 3D color graphics display system for the STL model is developed by calling the functions from Open GL graphic library through VC++6.0 under the Windows environment in this paper. The STL model is a high quality one that can be quiescent or animated. This system is conducive to find out the disfigurement of the STL model in a rapid prototyping process and to repair it. Therefore, the component quality can be enhanced.

Development of a Special Machine Rotating Cutter Based on Virtual Prototyping

We first describe the fundamental concept of virtual prototyping（ VP ） technology and discuss the differences among VP, computer aided design, computer aided engineering and computer aided manufacture. Then we present the application flow of virtual prototyping technology to the development of mechanical products. Based on ADAMS/VIEW, a new kind of special machine rotating cutter has been developed. The simulation results show that the rotating cutter meets the design requirements. It is concluded that virtual prototyping technology is quite valuable in designing and manufacturing mechanical product.

Design and Fabrication of Manual Bone Scaffolds via Rapid Prototyping

Biomaterials,β-TCP (β-tricalcium phosphate),and polymeric blends were used on a selective laser sintering (SLS) system,a kind of rapid prototyping machine,to produce some scaffold specimens which were designed with CAD (Computer Aided Design) software according to bone tissue engineering scaffold characteristics and properties. The scaffolds were produced with a pore size 800μm,and regular geometrical cylinder or sphere pores,depending on the processing. Then the specimens were treated by high temperature to assess their suitability on SLS processing. Their microstructures which had been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) exhibited fully interconnected pore which had a range size 500-800μm. X-ray diffraction analysis performed after high temperature treatment showed that β-TCP did not change. The porosity checked was about 71.29%. And the treated scaffolds could be provided an inter-connective network for the circulation of tissue fluid and hence sped up osteogenesis.

Research on Nanofabrication Technology of Micro-/Nano-Stereo Rapid Prototyping of PCVD

At present, the most common micro/nano-scale fabri ca tion processes include the plane silicon process based on IC technology, stereo silicon process, LIGA, quasi-LIGA based on near ultra violet deep lithography, MEMS, energy beam etching and micro/nano-machining, etc. A common problem for t hese processes is the difficulty to fabricate arbitrary form for 3-dimensional micro/nano-parts, devices or mechanisms. To develop advanced MEMS manufacturin g technology, and to achieve fabrication of true 3-dimensional parts, devices or mechanisms, this paper proposes a nanofabrication technology for rapid proto typing of 3-dimensional parts, using plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD). This process can be describes as follows: A laser beam is produced by a low power, quasi molecule laser. It enters the vac uum chamber through a window, and is focused on with the substrate surface. A ga s in the chamber is ionized by the laser beam to produce PCVD on the substrate s urface, and forms a particle of the size of Ф100 nm (its thickness is about 100 nm). When the laser beam moves along X-axis, many particles form a line. Then the laser beam moves one step in Y-axis to form a new line. A plane is complete d by many lines. Then the substrate moves in Z-axis to form new plane. Eventu ally, many planes form a 3-dimensional component. Using available CAD/CAM softw are with this process, rapid prototyping of complex components can be achieved. A nanometer precision linear motor, such as that described in Chinese national p atent (patent No. ZL 98 2 16753.9), can be used to obtain the nanometer precisio n movements in the process. The process does not require mask, can be used for v arious rapid prototyping materials, to obtain high fabrication precision (its sc ale precision is 15 nm), and larger ratio of height to width of micro/nano-stru cture. It can find widespread applications in the fabrication of micro-mechani sm, trimming IC, and fabricating minilens, etc.

Control Performance Evaluation of Serial Urology Manipulator by Virtual Prototyping

Prostatic hyperplasia and tumor are common diseases,and the minimally invasive surgery inserting the instruments through the urethra into the prostate is commonly conducted.Taking the robotic manipulator for such surgery into consideration,this paper analyses the workspace of the end effector,and proposes the distribution error of the fixed point and the tracking error of manipulator end effector on the cone bottom surface of the workspace as the basis for control implementation of the manipulator.The D-H coordinate system of the manipulator is established and the trajectory planning of the end effector in the Cartesian space is carried out.The digital model was established,and dynamics simulation was performed in Solidworks and Matlab/Simulink environment to guide the manipulator design.Trajectory mapping and synchronization control between virtual model and the actual manipulator are realized based on digital twin technique.The virtual manipulator can reflect the real-time state of the manipulator with data interaction by comparing the dynamics simulation results with the motor current values obtained by experiment.Experiment was carried out with PD feedback control and Newton-Euler dynamics based feedforward control to get the trajectory tracking characteristic of each motor,errors of the fixed point and tracking performance of the end effector of the manipulator.The results show that compared with PD feedback control,feed forward control implementation can achieve a reduction of 30.0%in the average error of the fixed point of the manipulator and a reduction of 33.3%in the maximum error.

Functional Virtual Prototyping in Vehicle Chassis Reform Analysis and Improvement Design

The contribution of functional virtual prototyping to vehicle chassis development is presented. The different topics that we took into consideration were reform analysis and improvement design during the vehicle chassis development. A frame of coordinates based on the digital-model was established, the main CAE analy- sis methods, multi-body system dynamics and finite element analysis were applied to the digital-model build by CAD/CAM software. The method was applied in the vehicle chassis reform analysis and improvement design, all the analysis and design projects were implemented in the uniform digital-model, and the development was carried through effectively.

Conversion of Rapid Prototyping Models into Metallic Tools by Ceramic Moulding—an Indirect Rapid Tooling Process

A process to convert models made by rapid prototypi ng techniques like SL (stereolitography) and LOM (laminated object manufacturing) or by conventional techniques (silicones, resins, wax, etc.) into metallic mould s or tools has been developed. The main purpose of this technique is to rapidly obtain the first prototypes of parts, for plastics injection, forging or any oth er manufacturing process using the tools produced by casting a metal into a cera mic mould. Briefly, it can be said that the ceramic moulds are produced by mixing in variab le proportions, depending on the type of ceramics employed, strength and roughne ss desired, a ceramic mixture composed by alumina and/or zirconium silicates bon ded with silica coming from a liquid binder, based on ethyl silicate. A catalyst is added to the slurry in order to produce a sol-gel reaction. The liquid slur ry is poured into the box containing the mould to be reproduced. After a short p eriod of time, controlled by the amount of gelling agent, the ceramic mixture ac quires a rubber consistency. The pattern is removed from the ceramic mould, whic h is fired to stop the gelation reaction. After this stabilization the ceramic m ould is sintered at high temperatures in order to generate an inert mould wi th the desired strength in which almost all metallic alloys can be cast. The effect of ceramic materials (shape, granulometric distribution, chemical com position, etc.), processing parameters (proportion binder/ceramic/catalyst, sint ering conditions, etc.) and casting conditions (mould pre-heating temperature a nd pouring temperature) were studied in order to obtain metallic moulds or tools with tailored properties (high dimensional accuracy, low roughness and high mec hanical strength).

A Comparative Study of Milestones for Featuring GUI Prototyping Tools

Prototyping is one of the core activities of User-Centered Design (UCD) processes and an integral component of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research. For many years, prototyping was synonym of paper-based mockups and only more recently we can say that dedicated tools for supporting prototyping activities really reach the market. In this paper, we propose to analyze the evolution of prototyping tools for supporting the development process of interactive systems. For that, this paper presents a review of the literature. We analyze the tools proposed by academic community as a proof of concepts and/or support to research activities. Moreover, we also analyze prototyping tools that are available in the market. We report our observation in terms of features that appear over time and constitute milestones for understating the evolution of concerns related to the development and use of prototyping tools. This survey covers publications published since 1988 in some of the main HCI conferences and 118 commercial tools available on the web. The results enable a brief comparison of characteristics present in both academic and commercial tools, how they have evolved, and what are the gaps that can provide insights for future research and development.

Classification and Selection of Prototyping Activities for Interaction Design

Because of the evolution of markets and technologies, prototyping concerns should be kept updated almost day by day. Moreover, user centered design moves the focus towards interaction issues. Prototyping activities matching such characteristics are already available, but they are not so diffused in the industrial domain. This is due to many reasons;an important one is that a rigorous classification of them is missing, as well as an effective helping tool for the selection of the best activities, given the design context. The research described in this paper aims at defining a new classification of prototyping activities, as well as at developing a selection algorithm to choose the best ones in an automatic way. These goals are pursued by defining a set of characteristics that allow describing accurately the prototyping activities. The resulting classification is made by five classes, based on eighteen characteristics. This classification is exploited by the first release of an algorithm for the selection of the best activities, chosen in order to satisfy design situations described thanks to a different set of eleven indices. Five experiences in the field have been used up to now as a starting point for validating the research outcomes.