ENGINEERING ADVANCES
ADVANCEMENTDescribe the advancement in general terms? Vat Photopolymerization is a type of additive manufacturing process where liquid resin is cured by targeting it with UV light to build the desire object.
What is the problem the advancement solves or proposes to solve? The problem that Vat Photopolymerization solves is that it allows for a part to be printed in a very detailed manner while also cutting down the printing time, as well as allowing to print bigger parts. It also provides the find part with a nice finish to it.
Who or what is the group that has the problem? This would help any company that is interested in prototyping some of their products but need to have some level or accuracy and detail in their prototyping process. It also allows for a shorter printing time, which also might encourage the company to print more prototypes for a better end result.
What is the approach to solving the problem? The approach is to use the Vat Photopolymerization method in order to allow for a more detailed vision throughout a design and manufacturing process, which will ultimately cut down the time and extra costs that might come from not having an close enough vision to what is needed. Throughout the prototyping stage, it will allow the companies to make the necessary changes early on, which will be a much more forgiving mistake rather than when it is in the manufacturing stage.
Are there other approaches to solving this problem? There are definitely many other approaches to this problem, as the world of 3D printing has evolved tremendously, but being able to print relatively larger parts that are more detailed while also cutting down on the printing time is a very rare occurrence. The Vat Photopolymerization is able to accomplish those needs in a timely manner.
INCORPORATIONAt what stage in the design process could this engineering advancement be beneficial to your overall purpose? The engineering advancement of Vat Photopolymerization would be beneficial during the modules stage as it would allow the prototyping of the 3 provided modules and would be a good determination to the functionality of the modulus before moving into the components stage. It would also allow for room for change if the said modules do not satisfy the requirements.
How does this advancement incorporate into your purpose/design? It would incorporate into my purpose/design, considering that the modules stage is very important before moving into the components stage. The Vat Photopolymerization process could be used to allow for the printing of my modules. By doing so, I would be able to determine if my modules are successful enough to move into the components stage. It would also allow me to make the necessary changes before its too late.
What aspects of the advancement could you see at first glance? The aspects of the advancements that could be seen at first glance, would be the good finish on the part with respect to the shortened printing time required to do so.
What aspects of the advancement could cause a challenge to incorporate into your design? The aspect of the advancement that would cause a challenge to incorporate in my design would be the full functionality of the modules due to some restrictions with the process of 3D printing as well as the increase in cost in relation with the increase in size of the part.
What aspects of the advancement could you see after you studied more about the advancement? The aspects that I saw after studying it more in depth would be the research and the use of this technique in the field if biomedical engineering. Where they are able to 3D print medical devices that require a great amount of detail and on a very small scale.
What needs to be determined to integrate this solution into your project? What needs to be determined before integrating this solution into your project would be the needed finish and detail required for the product. As well as the required size of the product, and whether it is on the larger end of the scale and vice versa.
RESOURCES