Decision method for rapid prototyping processes in new products design

The prototyping of products by additive material (Rapid Prototyping) and by subtractive material (Subtractive Rapid Prototyping) technology can vary in: quality, time and costs, depending on the product characteristics. The selection of technology often is conditioned to the designer/engineer or operator empirical decision due to the type of material, size and accuracy. This paper presents a method for decision making to assist the best choice of rapid prototyping technology on new product conception. We used the concepts of design for manufacturing (DFM), rapid product development (RPD) and computer aided design (CAD) for two products of different structure and material (lightweight dual and simple solid) to evaluate and validate the proposed method. The results show comparisons between the rapid prototyping technologies based on decision making, improving the conception of most efficient prototype.

Product engineering; Rapid prototyping; Decision making; Multiattribute criteria