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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
When it comes to designing for additive manufacturing, what are the key considerations for engineers, and how can these be applied to ensure sustainable product design?
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or high-performing industrial applications, lightweighting essentially involves making a part stronger using less material.
However, there is usually a trade-off between cost and the method used to achieve this. For instance, with subtractive manufacturing processes, the more you take material out of a structure, the higher the cost due to additional machining operations. However, using additive manufacturing to lightweight a part can decrease its cost, as generally material usage is a big portion of the total manufacturing cost. In the past, lightweighting attempts
have focused largely on replacing materials with other more lightweight alternatives. Now, engineers have entered the next phase of lightweighting by looking at how parts can be re- engineered to take full advantage of new manufacturing methods. At the core of these efforts is Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), which can be achieved through sophisticated 3D printing engineering software that offers topology optimisation, generative design, and other vital tools to improve part design. nTop (formerly nTopology) is one key player in this field, with its engineering software for advanced manufacturing
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Parts can be re-engineered with DfAM to offer lightweighting benefits
enabling engineers to design complex parts with 3D printing that were previously impossible. Trough the platform, users can design with complexity while encoding the logic of their design for automation.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR ENGINEERS So, what do engineers need to consider when taking a DfAM approach to lightweighting? Todd McDevitt, Director of Product Management at nTop, explains: “Engineers need to consider how they can design specifically to take advantage of particular additive manufacturing methods. Most design engineers are familiar with conventional manufacturing methods like casting and injection moulding, and there are many similar considerations for designing with these
nTop’s lattice generation and shell and infill capabilities help to reduce unnecessary material
techniques as there are with 3D printing, for example, minimal wall thickness.”
However, there are additional considerations that engineers must take into account when designing a part that will be 3D printed. “When you additively manufacture something, you’re printing layer by layer. So, if you have an arched shape in your structure, you’re going to need to provide some support for that arch during printing,” McDevitt adds. “Tis is what we call an overhang angle. Assessing and designing for the overhang angle is important, and requires a manufacturing support which becomes part of the printed structure that you need to consider in your design. Manufacturing the support requires additional material and printing time, which you want to try and minimise, so this needs to become part of an engineer’s thought process during the design phase.” Another important consideration is the print orientation, he continues: “When you’re printing a part layer by layer, the structure is inherently going to be a little bit weaker in the direction in which you are printing, and the structural integrity between the layers might not be as great. So, engineers must think about the orientation of the printing process, which is also important when deciding on the required supports for the print.” Particularly in regard to cost, being aware of the build volume of the 3D
DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE AM
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