The problem to be addressed in this research is how to quickly produce injection molded prototype parts in polymer, ceramic, or metal materials, given that design and fabrication activities may be performed by distributed participants. A Rapid Tooling TestBed will be developed to utilize solid freeform fabrication technologies (e.g., Stereolithography and Selective Laser Sintering) in converting a part's design representation into molded parts. In support of this idea, the key question to be investigated is: How early in the product realization process, and under what conditions, can design be separated safely from manufacture? This question will be investigated from the manufacturing viewpoint by developing a distributed testbed for rapid tooling (injection molds) and experimenting with different product realization processes for injection molds and molded components. Four main research thrusts define the project's activities: Development of a Fabrication Process Compiler to translate product design descriptions into fabrication process plans; SFF Characterization to encode process characteristics for use in the Compiler; Injection Molding to provide polymer and powder (ceramics and metals) molding rules and facilities; and Distributed Computing to provide the computational environment for distributed design and fabrication. If successful, the testbed will enable the fabrication of nearly production-representative components in a variety of polymer, ceramic, and metal materials within three days of submitting a product model. This represents over a fifty percent time reduction from typical industry practice, along with a significant increase in the parts' mechanical and material properties. This goal will be achieved through a reconceptualization of typical design-manufacturing processes that makes use of distributed participants. The distributed computing technologies to be developed will enable separation of design and fabrication activities by embodying tested product realization practices that ensure smooth transitions between these activities. Additionally, smooth technology transfer and dissemination will be achieved due to close collaborations with industry partners and active participation in education programs.
