Page 15 - 3D Metal Printing Fall 2019

preparing AM-ready models is to create contour slices. Our platform generates and specifies additive tool paths and scan patterns to deliver directly to machines without the use of intermediate STL files. This produces an order-of-magnitude sav- ings in time-to-manufacture and produces a higher-quality, more precise part.
Moreover, we are enabling engineers to make upstream design changes in CAD that fully rebuild down the design chain in nTop Platform. To date, Lockheed Mar- tin, GM, Volvo, Renishaw, Zenith Tecnica, Betatype and Tangible Solutions have entered partnerships with us to explore these capabilities—with some already launching to market.
3DMP: Please describe advancements in topology optimization over the past few years; what benefits have these advancements brought to designers and builders?
Rothenberg: AM has flipped the rela- tionship of software and hardware on its head. It used to be that you could come up with the shapes in the computer that would be impossible to make. For exam- ple, topology optimization was popular amongst academics 30 yr. ago, but didn’t really gain industrial use until recently. Today, the manufacturing processes are capable of making shapes that the current standard of design tools cannot represent. Why? Because the tools were designed at a time when drawings and traditional manufacturing were the paradigm. Now we can actually build the parts, with researchers pushing what is possible even further: new design constraints/objectives such as more advanced physics, optimiz- ing for a specific manufacturing type, and leveraging more advanced algorithms to represent more complex models that include lattices or repeating structures. The hardware advancements have sparked a renaissance-like movement in the engi- neering-software space, bringing a com- pletely new level of capabilities and con- trol over complex processes such as AM to the end users, engineers.
3DMP: Are you pleased or frustrated with the pace at which 3D metal printing is progressing?
Rothenberg: Very pleased. Metal AM now produces mission-critical compo- nents. It’s real now, and the industry is ready. Design tools are lagging, but we exist to solve this. This quite possibly is the most exciting time in the industry, as we are past the hype.
3DMP: What does the future hold for 3D design software and its users, and for 3D metal printing?
Rothenberg: We hear most often that the barriers to wider adoption include the
need for more automation in design process and STL files that introduce uncer- tainty into the build process, causing data- handling and build-crash issues. Other barriers: part complexity making the design process really long and/or difficult and, in general, existing design software holding back engineers from optimizing parts to take full advantage of AM process- es. Our role is to break down all of these barriers and deliver the ability to leverage AM to build the best parts, faster. 3DMP
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