HYBRID RAPID PROTOTYPING METHOD PERFORMING BOTH DEPOSITION AND MACHINING

摘要

A rapid prototyping method performing both deposition and machining, the method comprising a main process cycle and an additional machining process, wherein the main process cycle comprises repetition of the steps of: (a) machining the backside of the sheet by roughing and fining; (b) reversing the backside-machined sheet by 180 degrees, applying an adhesive and depositing the sheet on another one; and (c) machining the front side of the sheet by roughing, fining, and boundary cutting, wherein the additional machining process comprises drilling, milling or grinding. The rapid prototyping method performing both deposition and machining according to the present invention includes a main process cycle, which is composed of backside machining step, sheet reversing and deposition step and front side processing steps, and an additional machining process 17, which is to process small feature segments and composed of drilling, milling or grinding. The present invention method decomposes the whole building material into three-dimensional segments to dramatically reduce the total building time, while the conventional method divides the whole building material into thin layers of a predetermined thickness.