8/14/2019 Rapid Prototyping Commercial BenefitsSpinoffs Javelins Unique SteamRoller System Provides

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Commercial BenefitsSpinoffs

Industrial Productivity/Manufacturing Technology

The ability to use ceramic materials for space-based components has helped reduceproduct development cycles in equipment

manufacturing via rapid prototyping.Accomplishments under NASA Small Business

Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business

Technology Transfer (STTR) contracts have helpedenable Javelin, a division of Lone Peak Engineering,Inc., of Salt Lake City, Utah, to become a dominantdeveloper in the advancement of rapid prototypingtechnologies. The SBIR and STTR efforts wereconducted for NASAs Johnson Space Center andMarshall Space Flight Center, respectively.

Using the most advanced systems available today,Javelin has designed one of their most notabledevelopments, the SteamRoller System, a rapidprototyping process that produces functional ceramicprototypes directly from computer-generated models.This fully automated ceramic-laminated object

manufacturingCerLAM for shortis a processthat builds ceramic prototypes layer-by-layer usingceramic sheets. The prototype is built directly from acomputer-generated model without any tooling.

Rapid prototyping is an exploding new technol-ogy that is evolving within the design and manufac-turing industries. This technology makes it possibleto fabricate physical parts, without the need fortooling, through the direct conversion of three-dimensional data. Rapid prototyping uses the

principles of slicing, layering, and bonding to buildthe part.

Three-dimensional data is first sliced into cross-sectional planes by a computer. These planes are sentfrom the computer to the rapid prototyping machine,

which builds the part layer-by-layer. The first layer ofthe part is bonded to a platform or starting base.The shape of the first cross-sectional plane definesthe parts geometry. The second layer is bonded tothe first and shaped according to the second cross-sectional plane. This process is repeated until the partis complete.

Javelins SteamRoller System couples theCerLAM build process to the conventionallaminated object manufacturing (LOM) machine.

Prior to the SteamRoller, the build process wassemi-automatic and required an operator to positioneach ceramic sheet in the LOM machine for lamina-tion and cutting. Recently introduced by Javelin, thecommercially available SteamRoller System allowsboth ceramic and metal sheet materials to be rapidlyprototyped on the LOM.

Engineered ceramic materials that have been usedby Javelins SteamRoller-LOM process include:99.9 percent alumina, zirconia, silicon carbide,aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, aluminum silicates,hydroxyapatite, and various titanates.

The CerLAM process gives design and manu-

facturing engineers a rapid, cost-effective, and flexibleoption for ceramic prototyping or when smallquantities of parts are needed. A companion to theCerLAM process has been developed at Javelin formetal prototypes and tooling as well.

Initially, Lone Peak Engineering, under whichJavelin operates, conducted contract research studies.However, the companys focus has shifted to empha-size design, prototyping, and production of industrialcomponents out of engineered models, such astechnical ceramics and advanced polymers. Severaldevelopmental efforts have been pursued, such asproducing erosion resistant parts, corrosion thwartingpumps, laser guides, and automotive seals.

The company has also manufactured the followingproducts: ceramic golf shoe spikes that never flatten;zirconia ceramic-bladed razor blades for microtomesthat never rust, corrode, or need sharpening; ceramicturbines with a hardness approaching that of dia-monds and a strength equaling the best Germansteels; and even bioceramic bones prototyped directlyfrom medical data.

SteamRoller and CerLAM are trademarks of Lone Peak Engineering, Inc.

Javelins uniqueSteamRoller Systemprovides a rapidprototypingprocess for makingceramic components.

Rapid Prototyping