3D Digitising for Reverse Engineering to Manufacture Rapid Tooling

The aim of this R&D work is to present some know-how of Institute Superior Technique of Lisbon (IST) (1-11) and of Institute Polytechnic of Leiria (IPLEI) (5-11) in the application of 3D digitising and propose some approaches to transform the surface from the point cloud obtained during digitising processes in parametric 3D-CAD to manufacture Rapid Tooling (RT). This approach is also fundamental to verify prototype's geometry for tooling and for simulation modelling by Finite Element Analysis (FEA), to assure the quality of tooling geometry and process parameters. These tasks are a multi-disciplinary optimisation methodology for quality assurance. Based on case studies presented, the paper will reach some conclusions for the appropriate use of 3D digitising and Reverse Engineering (RE) to assist product development and Rapid Tooling before manufacturing, illustrating the achievement integrating these new methodologies and technologies