Computer-Aided Rapid Prototyping

The design group in Applied Mathematics are part of a joint project with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Leeds in the area of Compter-Aided Rapid Prototyping (CARP). The project involves a number of industrial partners and is specifically concerned with the rapid prototyping of cylinder heads for internal combustion engines. The Leeds contribution to the project includes the geometric design and physical analysis (using the CFD code VECTIS from Ricardo Engineering) of a swirl inlet port to a diesel engine and a cylinder head for a 2-stroke engine. These objects can be designed using the PDE Method, and then physical prototypes can be produced by the technique of selective laser sintering using the DTM SinterStation 2000 which has been purchased as part of the CARP project.