Leverage Simulation, Data and Metrology to Build Quality Parts Through Additive Manufacturing | Hexagon
Richard Resseguie, Product Manager,
Hexagon
Pierre-Yves Lavertu, Application Engineer,
Hexagon
Additive Manufacturing of polymers is transitioning from rapid prototyping to a true industrial production technique. While it brings valuable opportunities to the industry it also comes with a series of challenges for the engineers: the reliability of the mechanical properties of the final part still has some uncertainty and is not fully supported by standard engineering tools. To support this transition, the engineering workflow also daily applied for traditional manufacturing processes, needs to be reviewed and adapted to facilitate the introduction of new technologies. A holistic simulation-based approach for additive manufacturing of plastics and composites is proposed. It uses multiscale material modelling techniques, essential to handle the several scales involved in Additive Manufacturing to simulate the effective mechanical performance of the as-printed part as a function of the material and other important printing process parameters such as toolpath. It also brings in metrology to serve as a concrete means to validate and optimize the accuracy of the simulations: As-designed vs asprocessed comparison. Globally, it is necessary to track material behavior and process parameters to fully characterize the as-manufactured parts and enable process optimization. Process management has led the industry’s shift towards interactive applications, batch automation, new web-based technologies, and the ability to monitor the full data lifecycle of high-quality corporate data.