A REVIEW OF RAPID PROTOTYPING TECHNOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS

Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (RP&M) technologies have emerged f or quickly creating 3D products directly from computer-aided design sy stems. These technologies significantly improve the present prototypin g practices in industry. This paper reviews the main technologies and applications of RP&M. The principles and the features of those RP&M te chnologies are presented. Some existing problems and research issues o n these new technologies are introduced. We also include two current r esearch and application examples in using rapid prototyping for furthe r illustration.