Page 4 - 3D Metal Printing Spring 2017

CONTENTS
Spring 2017 Vol. 2, No. 2
COVER STORY
14 Designing for Additive Manufacturing, Part III:
Leveraging Optimization Methods
There is much more to optimizing geometry beyond using the straight output from a design tool. The most efficient AM structures only result when combining optimization methods with real-world AM expertise.
FEATURES
12 Quick Simulation Pays Dividends
Able to rapidly assess part buildability and performance, simulation software is an ideal addition to any AM user’s toolkit.
18 Caterpillar’s Grand AM Plan
...includes building the infrastructure to ensure that 3D printing nourishes the company’s engineering teams as it strives to continually innovate. The Caterpillar hub-and-spoke AM model features a newly minted inhouse AM factory, supported by a service-bureau network that’s moving AM ideas from the design suite into production.
24 AMetal-AMIndustryExpert
Peers Toward the Future
The digitization of manufacturing; use of automation to drive enhancements to quality and machine utilization; and education initiatives all are coming together to help move 3D metal printing out of the R&D lab and into mainstream manufacturing.
26 RAPID+TCT2017
In Pittsburgh in May, it’s the must-attend event for additive-manufacturing technology, knowledge and networking.
32 A Role in Military-Fleet Readiness
Printed stainless-steel exhaust stacks for a 1944-vintage warbird help to validate the value that 3D metal printing can bring to the military in terms of operational readiness—critical in an era of budget constraints, aging apparatus, and supply- chain and logistics challenges.
COMMENTARIES
4 Editorial
Gemba + Grimm = Insider Angles on 3D Metal Printing
Brad Kuvin
34 Grimm’s 3D Metal Printing Tales
Conversation with 3D Material Technologies
14
24
32
Todd Grimm
40 BackTalk
AM Driven by a Unique Combination
Louis A. Kren
DEPARTMENTS
6 Industry News 8 Tech Update 39 Ad Index
About the Cover
2 | 3D METAL PRINTING • SPRING 2017
3DMPmag.com
Designers working in the metal additive-manufacturing space know that the most efficient AM structures only result when combining optimization methods with real-world AM expertise. In part three of her three-part series of articles on designing for additive manufacturing, Caitlin Oswald discusses how pairing their design-rulebook expertise with optimization methods and software tools allows designers to take their AM components to the next level. A case study shows how it all comes together.