Abstract
Rapid Prototyping (RP) is the process of building three-dimensional objects, in layers, using additive manufacturing. Rapid Manufacturing (RM) is the use of RP technologies to manufacture end-use, or finished, products. At small lot sizes, such as with customized products, traditional manufacturing technologies become infeasible due to the high costs of tooling and setup. RM offers the opportunity to produce these customized products economically. Coupled with the customization opportunities afforded by RM is a certain degree of uncertainty. This uncertainty is mainly attributed to the lack of information known about what the customer’s specific requirements and preferences are at the time of production. In this paper, we present an overall method for selection of a RM technology under the geometric uncertainty inherent to mass customization. Specifically, we define the types of uncertainty inherent to RM (epistemic), propose a method to account for this uncertainty in a selection process (interval analysis), and propose a method to select a technology under uncertainty (Hurwicz selection criterion). We illustrate our method with examples on the selection of an RM technology to produce custom caster wheels and custom hearing aid shells.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
T. Wohlers, Wohlers Report 2004: Rapid Prototyping, Tooling, & Manufacturing State of the Industry (2004).
M.G. Fernandez, C.C. Seepersad, D.W. Rosen, J.K. Allen, and F. Mistree, Utility-Based Decision Support for Selection in Engineering Design. ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. 2001. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: ASME (2001).
L. Cheng, E. Subrahmanian, and A.W. Westerberg, Design and planning under uncertainty: issues on problem formulation and solution. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 27, 781–801 (2001).
J.N. Siddall ed, Probabilistic Engineering Design., Marcel Dekker: New York (1983).
S. Vadde, J.K. Allen, and F. Mistree, Catalog Design: Selection using available assets, Engineering Optimization, 25, 45–64 (1995).
J.K Allen, The Decision to Introduce New Technology: The Fuzzy Preliminary Selection Decision Support Problem. Engineering Optimization, 26, 61–77 (1996).
R.P. Reddy, and F. Mistree, Modeling Uncertainty in Selection using Exact Interval Arithmetic, Design Theory and Methodology, ASME.(1992).
H.-R. Bae, R.V. Grandhi, and R.A. Canfield, Epistemic uncertainty quantification techniques including evidence theory for large-scale structures, Computers & Structures, 82, 1101–1112 (2002).
P.S. Laplace, Essai Philosphique sur les Probabilites. 1825, Paris: Translation published by Dover, New York (1952).
S. French, Decision Theory: An Introduction to the Mathematics of Rationality, Chichester: Ellis Horwood Limited (1986).
S.S. Rao, and L. Cao, Optimum Design of Mechanical Systems Involving Interval Parameters, ASME Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 124, 465–472 (2002).
R.E. Moore, Interval Analysis, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall (1996).
H.M. Regan, M. Colyvan, and M.A. Burgman, A Taxonomy and Treatment of Uncertainty for Ecology and Conservation Biology. Ecological Applications, 12(2), 618–628 (2002).
S. Ferson, and L.R. Ginzburg, Different methods are needed to propagate ignorance and variability. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 54, 133–144 (1996).
A. Rapoport, Decision Theory and Decision Behavior: Normative and Descriptive Approaches, Dordrecht/ Boston/ London: Kluwer Academic Publishers (1989).
L. Hurwicz, Optimality criteria for decision making under ignorance, in Cowles Commision Discussion Paper No. 370 (mimeographed) (1951).
M.G. Fernandez, On Decision Support for Distributed Collaborative Design and Manufacture, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (2002).
F. Mistree, W.F. Smith, B. Bras, J.K. Allen, and D. Muster. Decision-Based Design: A Contemporary Paradigm for Ship Design, Transactions, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Jersey City, New Jersey (1990).
A. Hermann, and J.K. Allen, Selection of Rapid Tooling Materials and Processes in a Distributed Design Environment, ASME Design Engineering Techical Conferences, Las Vegas, Nevad, SME (1999).
E. Bascaran, R.B. Bannerot, and F. Mistree, Hierarchical Selection Decision Support Problems in Conceptual Design, Engineering Optimization, 14, 207–238 (1989).
M. Masters, Direct Manufacturing of Custom-Made Hearing Instruments, SME Rapid Prototyping Conference, Cincinnati, OH (2002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wilson, J.O., Rosen, D. (2006). Selection of Rapid Manufacturing Technologies Under Epistemic Uncertainty. In: Kamrani, A., Nasr, E.A. (eds) Rapid Prototyping. Manufacturing Systems Engineering Series, vol 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23291-5_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23291-5_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-23290-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-23291-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)