Diving in New Waters

Functional prototypes allow pre-production testing of diving masks

When Diving Systems International, Santa Barbara, CA wanted a testable prototype of their two-cavity M-48 SuperMask, comprised of 20 separate components, they called upon the experienced services of Scicon Technologies Corporation, Valencia, CA. According to Pete Ryan, design engineer for Diving Systems, "The ability to prototype [such a product] is critical becuse of the high performance characteristics demanded by our customers. This mask, for example, is unique because its bottom cavity is removable, allowing changeouts of breathing apparatus and gas breathing mixtures." The company supplies masks and changeable components to both commercial and military customers.

The challenge was to find a prototyping material that could handle the job, as most resins are too brittle to survive demanding functional testing. Says Dave Green, vice president of engineering at Scicon Technologies, "With M-48 SuperMask, rigid components of the product are to be injection molded from glass filled nylons, polycarbonate and ABS. The ability to closely approximate actual performance of those production materials [in the prototype] is key to the design and manufacturing of products that do what they're supposed to do."

Scicon recommended Series 9100 Proto-Functional materials made by DSM Somos, New Castle, DE, that replicates the desired high tensile strength and elongation at yield, balancing properties between rigidity and functionality. These high-speed, liquid photopolymer resins produce robust, functional, accurate parts using stereolithography machines. The material allowed the company to produce durable mainframes of the mask's jaw and most of the rigid parts that could in turn be painted, assembled and then subjected to controlled testing during actual dives."

DSM's other proto-functional solutions for stereolithography and selective laser sintering technologies include materials that mimic the properties of thermoplastic elastomers, polypropylene and polyethylene.

--SG