Selection of Subtractive Manufacturing Technology Versus Additive Manufacturing Technology for Rapid Prototyping of a Polymeric Product

The Additive Manufacturing (AM) industry has expanded steadily, occupying the market very quickly. New types of 3D printers have appeared and new types of polymeric and composite materials have been developed for these printers. Thus it passed very quickly from the stage in which the parts that were made by rapid prototyping (RP) only to be exposed (demonstration parts) to stage AM the parts are fully functional. Of course, the future of AM is still on the horizon, it is barely visible. The other technologies for forming the geometry of the part, ie subtractive manufacturing technology and formative manufacturing technology are still the basis of industrial production. Each technology has its own advantages and disadvantages and is chosen on a case-by-case basis, depending on the objectives pursued. In this paper, a study is made on the rapid prototyping of a single pump rotor part. The material of the piece is of polymer type, ABS. The piece was made in two variants: by additive manufacturing technology (PolyJet) and by subtractive manufacturing technology (milling). After processing, several parameters were followed, such as the functionality of the part, the surface quality, the mechanical tensile strength, the dimensional accuracy, and last but not least the manufacturing cost and the duration of the manufacturing cycle. The data thus obtained were processed with an artificial intelligence program for decision making.