Definitions

The rapid prototyping and tooling industry relies on the understanding of many technical terms that refer to processes, practices, tools, parts, and materials. A selection of key terms is included below. This list will be updated periodically as new important terms enter usage in the industry.

QuickCast – a method of building SLA parts that produces hollow patterns very quickly. These patterns are used in place of wax in the investment casting process to produce metal castings.

Durometer – is one of several measures of the hardness of a material or substance. Hardness is the ability of the material to withstand permanent indentation. Measurement in low numbers usually denote softer matter, with high numbers indicating harder material. Two scales, A & D, describe the material’s hardness. i.e. SHORE A 25 is very soft, SHORE A 90 is medium soft, SHORE D 90 is very hard.

Tank Time – the increment of time needed to perform an SLA job.

Test Block – an SLA part of known dimensions and features built specifically to test the accuracy of an SLA machine.

ABS – (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) a high impact plastic whose strength, rigidity, and exceptional electrical properties have made it one of most used materials in plastic injection molding for computers and many other modern electronic devices.

UL Testing – safety standards testing done by Underwriter Laboratories, a non-profit, independent agency that tests, certifies and writes standards for the safety of products for consumer, office and industrial machines and devices.

UL 94 V0 – standard for material flammability, denoting UL test results for flame retardancy.

RTV – Room Temperature Vulcanized rubber, the material used to make soft tooling or molds for polyurethane castings.