SLS Rapid Prototyping Services
SLS selective laser sintering allows us to turn your 3D CAD data into a 3D prototype model fast !
Conventional manufacturing methods are often referred to as subtractive technologies. In most cases, material is cut away or removed to create a part. In the late 1980s, there were some new ideas about how parts could be created. Innovative forms of nonconventional additive manufacturing were born.
The new Rapid Prototyping technologies allowed material to be solidified or bonded in a way that added material to make a part. With the advent of computer technology and CAD, these machines built parts directly from 3D CAD, layer-by-layer like building a loaf of bread slice-by-slice.
Many of the early technologies were wax or liquid resin based. Technologies still existing today include SLA, FDM, and SLS or variations of these methods from companies including 3D Systems, Stratasys, Objet, and Z Corporation. Early parts were particularly brittle and inaccurate but have improved greatly. The most useful of the technologies for production level quality and performance is laser sintering (SLS).
Though many believe the above technologies can only produce prototypes with a short useful life, laser sintering is indeed suitable for manufacturing. NW Rapid Manufacturing frequently produces prototypes of parts that will be manufactured using laser sintering. Talk about a smooth transition from prototyping to manufacturing!
