Rapid prototyping: types, services, definition

What is rapid prototyping and what does it mean?

Rapid prototyping is a process to create models or prototypes of products or systems, with specific tools and techniques, quickly and interactively. The advantages of rapid prototyping with 3D printing are many: quickly obtaining a prototype means accelerating its processes in the field of design and production. This possibility allows to accelerate the time-to-market, i.e. the length of time it takes from a product being conceived until its being available for sale. A shorter time-to-market allows companies to respond quickly to customer needs, anticipate the competition and seize market opportunities, therefore, guarantees a competitive advantage for companies in the market, with also a significant reduction in development and production costs.
 

Types of rapid prototyping: how to use rapid prototyping 

There are several types of rapid prototyping, including:

•    Virtual Prototyping: it consists in using software and digital tools to create virtual prototypes. These can be 2D or 3D models that simulate the aspect and behavior of the final product. Prototyping software such as Adobe XD, Sketch or Figma are often used to create interactive prototypes;

•    Physical Prototyping: it consists in creating physical models using materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic, or other lightweight materials. These prototypes are increasingly becoming rare as the trend is to no longer make them manually but with the help of tools such as 3D printers or laser cutting. Physical prototypes are often created using simple materials, without the need for particular functional properties;

•    Functional prototyping: it consists in creating prototypes that simulate how the final product works. With the advent of industrial 3D printers associated with innovative materials, such as high-performance thermoplastics, these products allow you to shorten the prototyping phases by merging them into a single one.
 

Rapid prototyping services 

Companies that offer rapid prototyping services can provide assistance in the design and production of prototypes with advanced tools and technologies. Roboze 3D Parts Network, that offers rapid prototyping services, is positioned right in this context and aims at offering customers Roboze advanced 3D printing solutions and services for super polymers and composites. The network consists of customers and partners operating all over the world that use Roboze's Production technology with the aim of offering an on-demand additive manufacturing service, with a strong focus on the realization of projects in extreme environments and the resolution of difficult engineering challenges with high precision and high performance parts.
 

Advantages of rapid prototyping 

Rapid prototyping offers a number of significant benefits in different contexts, such as product development, industrial design and engineering. In addition to the reduction in development times, mentioned above, the advantages of rapid prototyping are:

•    Better communication and understanding: Prototypes help communicate complex ideas and concepts more effectively to team members, customers, and stakeholders. People can interact with the prototype, understand its characteristics and provide timely feedback, allowing for better alignment and greater clarity in the vision of the final product;

•    Early identification of problems: rapid prototyping allows problems to be identified and resolved at an early stage of product development. Defects, inefficiencies, or limitations may emerge during prototype testing, allowing the team to make changes and improvements before moving to final production;

•    Cost savings: solving problems early in the product development process can help avoid costly changes later on. Rapid prototyping allows you to identify and fix problems in time, thus reducing the cost of redesign and production;

•    Greater flexibility and adaptability: Rapid prototyping allows you to explore different solutions and iterate quickly. If a prototype does not meet customers' expectations or needs, you can make changes and create a new version of the prototype immediately. This allows you to quickly adapt to new customer requests;

•    Incremental Development: Rapid prototyping favors an incremental development approach, where the product is built and improved gradually. This allows timely feedback to be obtained and lessons learned to be incorporated into the ongoing project, driving towards a more refined and higher quality final product;

•    Decision support: prototypes can be used to evaluate different design, material, functionality and layout options. This provides a concrete basis for making data-driven, informed decisions, rather than relying only on assumptions.

Rapid prototyping ensures a more efficient, effective and success-oriented product development process.
 

Examples of rapid prototyping 

Here are some examples of rapid prototyping:

•    Production of molds for carbon laminates: the use of highly performing polymeric materials, combined with the benefits of an FFF technology, allows to reduce costs and times associated with the carbon lamination process, increasing design flexibility. Leonardo Aerostructures used molded forming and curing tools with a Roboze ARGO 500, a machine equipped with a heated chamber and capable of producing high precision functional parts. The use of this solution has allowed to optimize design times with the possibility of having multiple iterations of the Design-Test-Modify cycle;

•    Rapid prototyping in the Motorsport sector: Ducati Panigale V4 R Superbike tank thermal protection: Ducati Corse was looking for a new solution that would help them validate their projects with robust and repeatable 3D printing technology to speed up the design phases of functional prototypes and finished parts while optimizing costs and geometries. The goal was to drastically reduce the time between design and track testing, guaranteeing mechanically performing parts even at high temperatures. Download the white paper showing the benefits of 3D printing in the world of motorcycle racing to know the details;

•    Bracket for electric generator of a V8 diesel engine for marine applications: case by PUNCH Torino, Roboze 3D Parts Partner in Italy. The team, after digitally optimizing the design of the bracket using the Carbon PEEK material and the ARGO 500 solution, reduced the lead time of the functional prototype from more than 4 months to 2 weeks, accelerating the time to market thanks to the flexibility in terms of design and reduced time for development of new components. The bracket can also be customized for different applications and programs, providing versatility and flexibility.