this technical tip will show how a scan of a blade part is modeled into a parametric cad-ready file and printed as a real-world part in the zprinter 450 3d printer. data collected from a 3d scanner can be useful in many forms and used in many applications. the most common application for scan data is in reverse engineering and inspection. however, scan data can be highly valuable in the 3d printing space. scan data is created as a basic “cloud†of points or a primitive mesh of triangles that resembles a shape. it can be re-designed into a cad-compatible file with rapidform xor and used with a 3d printer for the speedy creation of real-world parts. if a 3d printed part requires adjustments, a simple fix to the parametric file can have a new part created quickly and easily. xor uses geometry information from scan data in order to create regions which can be utilized to create a solid or surface body model with history information. sketch profiles can be extracted from the shape of the scan data to create parametric sketches which can then be used to create features with mathematical value.
since the sketches contain meaningful mathematical values, they can be used to create features such as extrusions, lofts, revolutions and fillets. their values are reflected across an entire modeling history, so changing a sketch at the beginning of a modeling process will automatically update all proceeding entities accordingly. the zprinter 450 3d printer prints the solid or surface body model created from the scan data in xor layer by layer in a powder base. when the printing is completed the part is removed from the powder base and a bonding liquid is used
scanning objects for 3d printing,during the process a single attribute of the parametric file can be edited which will affect all proceeding attributes automatically, making each step of the 3d printing process extremely fast and efficient while also accurately achieving the designers original intent. the combination of xor and 3d printing can be used to simplify and streamline the reverse engineering process to create real 3d printed objects. for more information, please visit our website at www.rapidform.com.
