Getting real

The modelling and prototyping market is one of those sectors that although constantly evolving, remains fundamentally the same. Today it is heavily influenced by events in the so-called additive fabrication business — which used to be called rapid prototyping (RP) before rapid manufacturing (RM) and rapid tooling (RT) came along.

The stereo-lithography (SL) resin suppliers continue to introduce new materials, and there are new machines and processes being developed — but the inescapable fact is that today some kind of RP technology is involved in almost every modelling or prototyping project.

During the past 15 years

of Gloucester has refined its process to achieve what it feels is excellent repeatability and accuracy in castings. This proved particularly important for the

Airblade hand dryer project. Following trials with other processes, Dyson approached Hanman in an effort to meet its exacting needs.

Hanman's process involves the production of an accurate SL model, which is then used to create a soft polymer tool. According to the company, this is the most important part of the process, as any deviation would mean additional post machining of the part. In this way, speed and process control helps to eliminate distortion from the part.