Designing a Power Tool to Show the Potentials of Additive Manufacturing - Effects of Additive Manufacturing on the Product Development Process
Date
2016
Authors
Leutenecker-Twelsiek, B.
Klahn, C.
Meboldt, M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Texas at Austin
Abstract
Today Additive Manufacturing (AM) is mainly used for rapid prototyping and specialized parts for industrial and end-user applications. To communicate the design potentials of AM to a general audience it is useful to demonstrate it with a visionary product, similar to the concept cars of the automotive industry. We have redesigned a power tool to show the benefits of AM on an end-user product. This paper describes the Concept Tool, its different sub-systems and highlights the range of AM’s applications. Furthermore we present our observations and findings during the product development process. Based on these findings a design supporting system is suggested to improve the development process for additive manufactured products.