Nitty-gritty's of 3D printing ...

The complete success of a product is already decided during the component development. Depending on the manufacturing process, different factors must be taken into account. Due to the increasing complexity of additively manufactured components, it is essential to have access to first-class software. This was surely a good reason to be on board the For this reason, we were on board the symposium "Component Development" with  Digimat AM.

The symposium was opened by Priv.Doz. Dr. Christian Kukla from the external institute of the University of Leoben. In his presentation, he illuminated the history of additive manufacturing as well as the possible processes and their differences and areas of application. No matter whether it's about conformal cooling, jewelry manufacturing, aerospace or medical technology - perfect solutions can only be created by using correct materials, processes and design.

Afterwards, DI Dr. Martin Reiter from the Institute of Polymer Product Engineering at the JKU reported about current research projects in a very practical manner. Amongst others, home office and distance-learning were used to develop a platform. This platform is intended for communication for those who have a 3D printer at home and can announce their printing capacities. It is then possible to produce certain products together in a coordinated manner from home.
Using similar platforms, it is conceivable that in the future there could be company-wide printer clusters in which products of different sizes are produced using parameterized print programs and pre-processing can thus be handled by a central location. Another exciting topic was 3D printing using multi-axis robots. This enables complex 3D structures to be printed on curved surfaces and thus, for example, reinforcing layers to be applied to a component using fiber-reinforced plastics.

A series of practical workshops is planned together with SimpaTec, which was introduced at the end of the symposium. The aim of the workshop series is for participants to learn all the steps necessary to optimize a component for additive manufacturing and also to individually  try the procedures with a test license.
The workshop series starts with a CAD component. This component will be adapted and optimized for additive manufacturing by Altair and afterwards SimpaTec will conduct the process simulation using Digimat AM. The Umdasch Group NewCon seminar will then cover the topic of component manufacturing. And WESTCAM concludes with component testing.

Interested in the simulation of additively manufactured components or/and would like to participate in the workshop series? Just get in touch with us. We will be happy to show you what is possible or reserve a place for you for the workshop series.