Question

in your own words what an STL file in (SolidWorks) is and how it is used in rapid prototyping. For the references ?

Answer 1

STL (an abbreviation of "stereolithography") is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems.

The STL file format has become the Rapid Prototyping industry's standard data transmission format, and is the format required to interact with Quickparts. This format approximates the surfaces of a solid model with triangles. For a simple model such as the box shown in figure 1, its surfaces can be approximated with twelve triangles, as shown in figure 2. The more complex the surface, the more triangles produced, as shown in figure 3.

Almost all of today's CAD systems are capable of producing an STL file. For the user the process is often as simple as selecting File, Save As, and STL. Below are steps for producing high quality STL files from a number of today's leading CAD systems. In all cases, export your STL file as a Binary file. This saves on time and file size.

it makes easily to define 3D object and transfer from one system with taking less memory and being operatable in 3D softwares. This causes much saving cost and time in rapid protying.