Additive Manufacturing
Just a few years ago, additive manufacturing (AM) was purely associated with rapid prototyping, research projects, and advanced engineering teams. Now many organizations are looking to AM as a production solution. To some this means manufacturing parts through an additive method, to others additive is essential for the creation of timely tooling. Altair provides software that goes beyond the creation of unique prototypes and provides a robust simulation toolchain to support production designs.
Topology Optimization
The distinctive organic looking parts that many consider a trademark additive manufacturing (AM) aesthetic, are created through a process called topology optimization. Altair® OptiStruct® is the original topology optimization structural design tool. While some are still discovering how this technology can help designers and engineers rapidly develop innovative, lightweight, and structurally efficient designs, for over two decades OptiStruct® has driven the design of products you see and use every day.
Simulation-driven Design
Advanced engineering simulation has traditionally been employed as virtual testing of a mature design. A task performed late during product development, just before building a physical prototype. Organizations mature in their digital transformation use Altair simulation technology early in the design process as part of concept design. To enable this shift, a new category of software has been created developed to accelerate design decisions.
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Manufacturing Simulation
For Additive Manufacturing: Altair® Inspire™ Print3D can cut product development and AM costs by reducing material usage, print times, and post processing. It provides a fast and accurate toolset for the design and process simulation of selective laser melting (SLM) parts. Engineers can quickly understand changes to process or design that effect manufacturing efficiency, then export part and support structure geometry to major printer preparation software for printing. It also simplifies the identification and correction of potential deformation, delamination, and excessive heating issues before building a part.
For Traditional Manufacturing with AM Tooling: It may not make sense for parts to be designed for additive manufacturing, but it might work for its tooling. Additive methods are being aggressively applied to the manufacture of cores, forms, and molds, in addition to production jigs and fixtures. The reduced fabrication time means that tooling lead times are shorter, and the storage of physical tools isn’t required. Altair has tools to simulate many manufacturing methods.
Elegant Solutions
Applied Across Industries: OptiStruct uses topology optimization to develop optimized structures by considering design parameters like expected loads, available design space, material, and cost. Embedded early in the design process, it enables the creation of designs with minimal mass and maximal stiffness. Topology optimization allows you to find the best material distribution for your traditional or advanced manufacturing process and compare designs.
Applied Early in the Process: Altair® Inspire™ brings OptiStruct into a new user experience encouraging more early application of topology optimization. Both tools consider multiple manufacturing constraints, including symmetry patterns, draw direction, cavity avoidance, overhang angles, and extrusion. Topology optimization allows for fast design exploration, improved development productivity, and identifies opportunities for part consolidation.
Higher Performance
Lattice Structures: A unique capability of 3D printing lies in its ability to manufacture hollow shapes with complex external geometry using tiny cells known as lattice structures. OptiStruct now extends topology optimization to support the combination of solid and lattice structures. Lattice performance can be studied under tension, compression, shear, flexion, torsion, and fatigue life.
Thermal Efficiency: Hydraulic valve blocks, turbine blades, heat exchangers, and injection molding tooling with conformal cooling channels are improved by Altair CFD™ and Altair® HyperStudy®. The parametrization is directly done on the simulation model with the morphing capabilities of Altair® HyperMesh®. With this approach, the simulation lead time is cut down to a minimum, variants can be assessed quickly, and innovation is driven by automated optimization processes.
Featured Resources
Designing the Future: Leveraging Simulation, Additive Manufacturing, Generative Design, and AI for Cost-Effective and Sustainable Products
In this panel discussion, Maoz Barkai, Product Manager at Oqton; Dr. Bastiaan Oud, Head of Strategy at SIMCON; and Joseph Flynn, Senior Specialist Simulation & Design Development at Altair, will delve into the latest innovative technologies and techniques used to create high-performing, sustainable, and cost-effective products. Drawing on their expertise, our panelists will explore how simulation, additive manufacturing, generative design, and AI can be leveraged to optimize product performance, reduce design and manufacturing time and costs, and advance sustainability goals. They will also examine the challenges and opportunities associated with incorporating these technologies into product development workflows. Whether you're a product designer, engineer, or sustainability professional, this discussion promises to offer valuable insights and inspiration for harnessing cutting-edge technologies to develop products that meet your performance, cost, and sustainability objectives.
Presented as part of Altair's 2023 Future.Industry conference.
The presentation is in English by default. The following languages are available by clicking on Audio Description 'AD))' on the video screen: DE, ES, FR, IT, ES, PT, KO, and CN.
Duration: 32 minutes
Boosting 3D Printing Design with Simulation
Ford Motor Company began working with Altair more than 30 years ago to support the company’s product development activities. Today, the company employs Altair software globally to support the development of Ford cars, trucks, and heavy equipment. In this customer story, Ford Mexico team using Altair Additive Manufacturing and Optimization Solutions, created brackets with a better mechanical behavior and a more effective heat dissipation.
Using Additive Manufacturing to Quicken the Transition to Net Zero
As our world transitions to renewable energy, making an unpredictable energy source reliable proves to be a challenge. One solution to this problem is storage technology, however, being able to scale this up provides its own challenges. But by quickly iterating at the lab and pilot plant scale, solutions to these challenges are found sooner. Exergy Solutions has achieved this by combining the latest lattice generating software with metal additive manufacturing and agile engineering. This has helped our client prove their technology and quicken the time to scale up this game-changing technology.
