Three-dimensional printing or rapid prototyping has had a significant impact on manufacturing and educational environments. Manufacturing organizations can now cheaply and quickly create prototypes to provide information on sizes, tolerances, tolerance stack-ups, and assembly. Educational institutions may utilize 3-D printers in much the same ways. Students enhance computer-aided design (CAD) learning by actually making the parts they design and checking assembly operations. From a metrology and GD&T perspective, 3-D printers are also employed to enhance the learning of these topics. Reverse engineering projects are conducted where students use metrology tools to measure a part or assembly, model the part on a computer using CAD, print the part using a 3-D printer, and then measuring the printed part for comparison to the original. As part of the process, students are asked to develop a measuring process that could be employed during an actual manufacturing process of the part including determining the critical dimensions and tools required to measure those dimensions. Additionally, students are required to create 5 GD&T specifications for the part and determine the best way to inspect those specifications.
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