Abstract
Rapid Prototyping (RP) has revolutionized the world of manufacturing. It has gained popularity among designers and artists, having developed from a visualization tool to a manufacturing tool for end-use products. Rapid-prototyped objects are being accessed by museums and the technology is being adopted for conservation applications. The review identifies the current most commonly used polymer based RP technologies and materials that are likely to enter museum collections, and formulates informed research topics related to their conservation. A knowledge exchange project was conducted with artists and designers using the technology via an online survey and interviews. The main technologies and materials used by artists and designers were identified and investigated including research that has been done into the stability of RP manufactured objects. Since these may be uniquely post-processed by artists and designers, RP objects are often irreplaceable, i.e. cannot simply be reprinted. The evolution from rapid prototyping (RP) to additive manufacturing (AM) has resulted in extensive research into the mechanical properties and short-term stability of prototypes. However, very little research has been conducted into RP from the conservation perspective particularly long-term stability studies. Since RP technology is rapidly developing, it is crucial that conservators and scientists follow and inform these developments.
Highlights
The opening citation of Walter Benjamin’s Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction by Paul Valery [1], seems strangely relevant today with the advent of digital design and additive manufacturing (AM).The expiration of patents has led to rapid development of technologies used for rapid prototyping (RP) during the last 25 years (Table 1)
Since most artworks and designs are in a sense ‘prototypes’, we will use the term ‘rapid prototyping’ to refer to AM technologies used for the purpose of artistic expression and conservation
The colour properties and permanence of customised 3D printed colour samples produced on a ZCorp Z510 printer with Zp131 plaster-based powder and Zb60 Cyan, Magenta and Yellow binders were studied by Stanic et al [24]
Summary
The opening citation of Walter Benjamin’s Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction by Paul Valery [1], seems strangely relevant today with the advent of digital design and additive manufacturing (AM).The expiration of patents has led to rapid development of technologies used for rapid prototyping (RP) during the last 25 years (Table 1). To conserve RP artworks it is necessary to have an understanding of the process of creation, the different technologies involved, the materials used as well as their chemical and mechanical properties. Material properties and degradation In-depth research into the material properties and building processes of rapid prototypes only started once RP technologies were considered for production of end-use products (‘rapid manufacturing’).
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