Cad Modeling and Rapid Manufacturing of Heterogeneous Objects: a Review

Rapid manufacturing is emerging as a technology that enables the fabrication of three-dimensional heterogeneous objects. Compared to homogeneous objects, the fabrication of heterogeneous objects is very complicated for the processing of material information especially Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs). To take full advantage of rapid manufacturing, some methods to design and fabricate heterogeneous components have been developed. This manuscript presents the review of available CAD modeling systems for heterogeneous objects which need to accommodate the specification of geometry as well as material properties within the entire object. The use of heterogeneous CAD models in the process planning enables the automatic generation of valid and useful RP manufacturing data. The review of rapid manufacturing techniques that can take advantage of the discussed process planning method for the fabrication of heterogeneous objects are also described in detail.