University of Greenwich Offers Businesses Rapid Prototyping Facility
Imagine a machine where you could pop in a unique object, like your child’s first clay model or an antique ornament, and get an exact copy back. Sounds too good to be true?
It’s achievable and cheap, and happening at the University of Greenwich. Engineering staff are using the new technology to revolutionise the way new products are brought to market.
The process is called rapid prototyping. Ian Cakebread of the university says: “We can make a prototype of a machine part, or a toy for instance, in hours. The manufacturer can take it away, test it, come back to us for fine-tuning and have it in production in days.”
A company can either provide a computerised specification known as a CAD file or a model of the item. The model is popped into a scanner which makes a three-dimensional virtual model. The company can even bring a drawing and staff will convert it into the standard technical language (STL) understood by computers.
Then the information is fed into a ‘fusion deposition machine’ which builds up a model, a layer at a time. “It’s a bit like an inkjet printer, with the print head crossing the page again and again,” says Ian. “It builds up layers of acrylic plastic and is accurate to 0.25mm. The detail is so good, the Imperial War Museum recently worked with us to reproduce a finely engraved war medal.”
One business which has taken advantage of the rapid prototyping facility is Delphi Diesel Systems Technical Centre in Gillingham. Paul Charman, centre manager, says: “Delphi develops high pressure Common Rail Pumps. We also produce prototypes for development teams and supply to our customers. It is vital that these prototypes are made to the highest quality and delivered on time.
“We have been associated with Greenwich for some time and have recently worked closely on rapid prototyping projects. The availability of a local centre where we can develop models of new components in a few hours is a significant advantage and has allowed us to shorten our own lead times. We have used models produced by Greenwich to make aluminium castings for our prototype pumps and these are now on test vehicles located throughout Europe.”
Common rail pumps inject fuel into diesel engines. They have helped to make diesel more competitive with petrol engines by reducing engine noise and nitrogen emissions.
Ian Cakebread says: “Before, an engineer would produce drawings of the new product and then a modeller would manufacturer it using conventional machine tools. The development process could last months. Now we can offer local manufacturers not just the machinery but the expertise in IT and engineering to help them develop products quickly and cheaply.”
The university has used rapid prototyping to make a robotic hand, sports science equipment, industrial moulds and engine parts. Projects under consideration include architectural models and scale models of ships.
Companies interested in finding out more should contact Colin Wilson on 01634 883307 or e-mail: c.j.wilson@gre.ac.uk
ENDS
For more information and images of rapid prototyping contact:
Hester Brown
Press Officer
University of Greenwich
Tel: 020 8331 7663
hester.brown@gre.ac.uk