SECTION TITLE
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
AM MINDSET “We have been utilising 3D printing for decades, mostly for prototyping, but the Castor3D software allows us to focus on our end components and more specifically the costs associated with that,” adds Stapela.
Te software’s algorithm and machine learning can scan thousands of parts at once by analysing CAD files. It evaluates five factors: materials, CAD geometry, costs, lead time, and strength testing to identify suitable parts for AM. Te software can also make design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) suggestions regarding part consolidation and weight reduction opportunities. “Te software delivers a lot of detail,” explains Omer Blaier, Co-found of Castor. “So, let’s say a manufacturer determines that a lower-cost material is more important than the strength. Te platform would then recommend a material better suited for your design.” For Danfoss, there has always been a
desire to increase its AM processes, both for DfAM on its new products, as well as its existing product lines and legacy parts. “Tere are a lot of big companies out there trying to get engineers to think about
AM when designing a new component,” adds Blaier. “We come at it from the other side trying to find opportunities within your current designs.”
CONNECTING THE PROCESS Few organisations, if any, have a larger library of part designs than the US military, which is increasingly looking to AM as a potential solution to a number of challenges. For example, both the Air Force and Navy are in the process of creating an end-to-end digital manufacturing solution that slashes cycle times from weeks to hours, thus greatly decreasing project costs. Te system will also help to untangle complicated supply chain issues because components could be designed in one part of the world and printed anywhere else on the planet, or even in space, with a push of a button. Te front end of these systems requires the same type of AM decision- making software that automatically identifies suitable parts. “We are talking about millions, or
even billions, of parts in its arsenal,” says Scott Shuppert, CEO of CAD/ CAM Services. “Tere was just no way the US military could go through each one of those manually and figure out
which components could be additively manufactured, which ones should be, and which ones can be improved by moving them into an AM process.” A Texas-based prime contractor for the US federal government, CAD/CAM Services was brought in to integrate several commercial off-the-shelf technologies into what the Air Force calls the ‘Factory of the Future.’ Tis integration will enable the Department of Defense (DoD) and other large manufacturers to manage and scale their AM processes.
CAPITALISING ON AM “By bringing in the Castor software into our enterprise-wide solution, we are seeing organisations cut their costs by an average of 40-60%,” adds Shuppert. As an example, Stanley Engineered Fastening (SEF), which has a diverse portfolio of fastening products serving numerous industries, was looking to lower costs on its production floor, improve part production lead times, and increase manufacturing flexibility. As part of that, the production line at
Stanley’s manufacturing facilities around the world is made up of highly customised parts, with complex geometry, and runs at
CAD files can be evaluated to make DfAM suggestions
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