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The ability to use ceramic materials
for spacebased components has helped reduce product development
cycles in equipment manufacturing via rapid prototyping.
Accomplishments under NASA Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contracts
have helped enable Javelin, a division of Lone Peak Engineering,
Inc., of Salt Lake City, Utah, to become a dominant developer
in the advancement of rapid prototyping technologies. The SBIR
and STTR efforts were conducted for NASA's Johnson Space Center
and Marshall Space Flight Center, respectively.
Using the most advanced systems available today, Javelin has
designed one of their most notable developments, the SteamRollerTM
System, a rapid prototyping process that produces functional
ceramic prototypes directly from computer-generated models. This
fully automated ceramic-laminated object manufacturing--CerLAMTM
for short--is a process that builds ceramic prototypes layer-by-layer
using ceramic sheets. The prototype is built directly from a
computer-generated model without any tooling.
Rapid prototyping is an exploding new technology that is evolving
within the design and manufacturing industries. This technology
makes it possible to fabricate physical parts, without the need
for tooling, through the direct conversion of three-dimensional
data. Rapid prototyping uses the principles of slicing, layering,
and bonding to build the part.
Three-dimensional data is first sliced into cross-sectional
planes by a computer. These planes are sent from the computer
to the rapid prototyping machine, which builds the part layer-by-layer.
The first layer of the part is bonded to a platform or starting
base. The shape of the first cross-sectional plane defines the
part's geometry. The second layer is bonded to the first and
shaped according to the second cross-sectional plane. This process
is repeated until the part is complete.
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Javelin's unique SteamRollerTM
System provides a rapid prototyping process for making ceramic
components
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Javelin's SteamRollerTM System couples the CerLAMTM
build process to the conventional laminated object manufacturing
(LOM) machine. Prior to the SteamRollerTM, the build
process was semi-automatic and required an operator to position
each ceramic sheet in the LOM machine for lamination and cutting.
Recently introduced by Javelin, the commercially available SteamRollerTM
System allows both ceramic and metal sheet materials to be rapidly
prototyped on the LOM.
Engineered ceramic materials that have been used by Javelin's
SteamRollerTM-LOM process include: 99.9 percent alumina,
zirconia, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride,
aluminum silicates, hydroxyapatite, and various titanates.
The CerLAMTM process gives design and manufacturing
engineers a rapid, cost-effective, and flexible option for ceramic
prototyping or when small quantities of parts are needed. A companion
to the CerLAM process has been developed at Javelin for metal
prototypes and tooling as well.
Initially, Lone Peak Engineering, under which Javelin operates,
conducted contract research studies. However, the company's focus
has shifted to emphasize design, prototyping, and production
of industrial components out of engineered models, such as technical
ceramics and advanced polymers. Several developmental efforts
have been pursued, such as producing erosion resistant parts,
corrosion thwarting pumps, laser guides, and automotive seals.
The company has also manufactured the following products:
ceramic golf shoe spikes that never flatten; zirconia ceramic-bladed
razor blades for microtomes that never rust, corrode, or need
sharpening; ceramic turbines with a hardness approaching that
of diamonds and a strength equaling the best German steels; and
even bioceramic bones prototyped directly from medical data.
SteamRollerTM and CerLAMTM
are trademarks of Lone Peak Engineering, Inc.
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