Rapid Fabrication of Fully Functional Models by Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)

The most-time-consuming and labor-intensive process in any product development is the iteration between design and validation thru physical model building and testing. With ever increasing complexity of modern weapons systems and current political environment, the need to reduce development time and cost has never been greater. Amongst a myriad of techniques that have been introduced, Rapid Prototyping has brought the most significant improvements. Rapid Prototyping (RP) is a new class of model fabrication process that creates a 3-dimensional object directly from a solid CAD file by electronically sectioning the object and physically reconstructing each cross section one layer at a time with minimal human intervention. The technique allows fabrication of models at previously unsurpassed speeds. Despite its success and steady progress over the past 5 years, the state of current RP technology does not allow direct fabrication of fully functional models for more extensive testing. In light of the aforementioned limitations and potential benefits, Helisys proposes a 6 month R&D program aimed at applying innovations in materials, software, and laser optics to the already successful commercial process called Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM).