要快速地製作出精確的成品原型，一般會使用切削加工或者快速原型這兩種方法。這兩種方法各有其優缺點，一般來說，切削加工的準確度及精密度較高，但是從粗胚開始加工會產生較多的廢料，且必須花費多餘的時間移除用不到的材料。快速原型方面，可將大部分的原材料用來建構成品，廢料較少，但是因為冷卻收縮與內部應力的影響，導致快速原型的精度降低。
本研究將採用一種創新的概念結合五軸加工的切削主軸與融熔沉積成型法的噴嘴。此概念將兩個主軸與旋轉軸結合，並藉由旋轉的方式切換兩種功能，如此設計，就不需要額外增加馬達或是第六軸來驅動此不同的主軸。針對此複合式加工方式，本研究亦設計了一種有別於傳統形式的夾具。此夾具可以在融熔沉積成型法完成後，進行鑽孔或銑削時自動化固定工件。實驗結果顯示此複合式加工機可進行五軸無支撐材之快速原型、或在完成快速原型後進行三軸或五軸加工。如此可節省快速原型之支撐材並提升快速原型之準確度及精密度。

There are two major methods to produce a prototype. One is machining, and the other is rapid prototyping (RP). Generally, machining is more accurate and precise, but it creates a lot of scrap. RP allows the material to be used more effectively. However, because of the shrinkage and internal stresses, the accuracy of RP is usually uncertain. The objective of this research was to combine these two methods to develop a hybrid 5-axis machining and rapid prototyping machine tool to improve the disadvantages associated with each method. We used the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method as the rapid prototyping method is this research.
The innovation of this research was to put the cutter on one end and the FDM head on the other end of a rotator axis in a 5-axis machine. The design allows us to be able to switch between machining and FDM by rotate the axis that already exists on the 5-axis machine, so there is no extra motor or axis needed for this switch. We also developed a fixture to automatically hold the FDM workpiece during machining. The experimental results showed that the hybrid machine could build FDM object without using support material, or perform 3-axis or 5-axis machining after FDM. By doing so can save the support material for fast prototyping and improve the precision and accuracy of the fast prototyping product.

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