The3D Printing Industry Awards 2022shortlists are now available for voting. Who will win the 2022 3DPI Awards? Have your say by casting your vote now.
As labor shortages, fluctuating demand, lockdowns, and trade barriers conspire in a global supply chain crisis many are turning to 3D printing. Doing so provides manufacturers with rapid access to parts, reducing their lead times from months to days or weeks, while enabling them to manufacture in a more sustainable, potentially less expensive way than subtractive methods allow.
Switching to 3D printing in this way also opens up other opportunities, including the development of consolidated and lightweighted parts with variable levels of infill. Likewise, when it comes to replacing discontinued components, additive manufacturing can be used alongside other technologies like 3D scanning to reverse engineer and print new ones that would otherwise be impossible to acquire.
However, a key roadblock to adopting the technology remains: how can manufacturers be 100% sure that their 3D printed replacement will work like the original? While there are now numerous part certifications and validation products on the market, there remains a need for a solution that minimizes the number of design iterations.
在某些情况下，相关的制造商通过使用100％的填充或大量加固来建造零件，而在另一些情况下，他们并没有通过不使用它来生产承载金属构建来充分利用3D打印。在参数方面，资格也可能是一个昂贵的过程，而公司花费过多的时间和材料，直到他们确信该零件会根据需要执行。
那么制造商如何解决这些问题的成本效益呢？他们现在可以这样做的一种方法是使用新启动的模拟功能Markforged Eiger3D printing software. By allowing users to replace the design-print-break test cycle with virtual testing, the feature is said to enable manufacturers to expand their use of 3D printing into even more demanding production applications.
Simulation in Markforged Eiger
借助其新的模拟产品，Markforged的目标是通过向用户提供一种验证任何零件在打印之前都会执行的方法来帮助实现3D打印的承诺。开始使用该软件就像输入锚点，负载强度和刚度数据一样简单。在击中“验证”之前。这触发了一个测试参数以验证零件性能的模拟。
Once this stage has been completed, users then have the option of hitting another button to run further simulations as a means of tweaking settings to optimize on time and costs without sacrificing performance. Specifically, the program makes this possible via adapting floor, wall, infill, and fiber reinforcement levels, thus providing adopters with the ability to further customize their prints as desired.
Already, Eiger’s Simulation functionality has been picked up by the likes of 280 mph drag racer manufacturerLarsen Motorsports. Earlier this year, the team set out to solve the problem that its stock aluminum steering wheels didn’t fit the smaller hands of one of its primary drivers, Josette Roach. To give her a better grip when steering, Larsen Motorsports has managed to 3D print a Continuous Carbon Fiber-reinforcedOnyxreplacement.
根据团队运营总监Brian Tocci的说法，Eiger的模拟使他们可以“测试，迭代并继续迭代，直到他们获得满意的设计为止。”Tocci还暗示了不必“打印十个不同的零件”才能获得最终设计，而Josette现在拥有安全驱动其喷气驱动的拖车所需的设备。
Gaining traction in automotive
Another of Markforged’s Eiger Simulation beta users was打孔都灵, a manufacturer that specializes in the design and development of propulsion systems and control solutions. One of the main sectors the firm addresses is automotive, and it counts some of the largest OEMs in the industry as customers. To help it meet customer engine testing needs, the company has set up an AM Lab at its 600-staff engineering center, where it 3D prints related tooling, jigs, and prototype parts before they go into full production.
In an interview with 3D Printing Industry, Valerio Ametrano, a Senior Pre-Production Engineer at PUNCH Torino, explained how it was already usingMarkforged X7andMarkforged Onyx Pro实验室的系统可以生产从飞轮锁定工具到定位工具的所有内容，但是模拟现在正在帮助其发动机安装工作。
Ametrano透露：“当我们拥有一个原型的新引擎时，我们没有完成组件的所有工具，因此内部打印它们更具成本效益。”“从马克福格（Markforged）进行的模拟帮助我们缩短了这次的缩短，以达到力量和耐磨性所需的目标，同时减少了我们必须执行的迭代次数。”
Ametrano在Eiger中使用模拟，继续解释了Punch Torino如何开发出一种凸轮轴锁定工具，该工具“就像在拧紧轮子期间戴在发动机上的叉子。”由于“必须有很多扭矩必须抵抗”，因此该公司的工程师模拟了该部件的性能，然后对其设计进行调整以“达到最佳参数”。
Ametrano added that traditionally such a part would be CNC machined over the course of four weeks, but with 3D printing his firm has been able to slash its lead time by 80% to just four days. Utilizing Simulation helped make this possible, by allowing the firm’s engineers to account for the changing stresses put on their part through design iterations, and ensure it could reach the required performance level.
Having worked closely with the Markforged team as an early user of Eiger Simulation, Ametrano also said his Markforged counterparts “fulfilled all his requests” regarding new feature integration. For its part, Markforged has committed to updating the software with additional functionalities, and it has now launched its Simulation tool for all users of its Eiger 3D slicing and printing software as a free trial until April 2023.
Those interested in finding out more canvisit the Markforged Simulation trial website here.
要了解最新的3D印刷新闻，请不要忘记订阅3D Printing Industry newsletteror follow us on推特or liking our page onFacebook.
While you’re here, why not subscribe to ourYouTube渠道？包括讨论，汇报，视频短裤和网络研讨会重播。
Are you looking for a job in the additive manufacturing industry? Visit3D Printing Jobsfor a selection of roles in the industry.
特色图像在使用Markforged的Eiger软件上使用仿真功能时显示了UI的屏幕截图。通过Markforged图像。
