Design for Additive Manufacturing

Analysis of the design of the part selected for additive manufacturing is an absolute prerequisite for the initial evaluation of the feasibility of production. Most industrial components are designed with conventional manufacturing such as casting, machining or injection molding with the technological limits of these manufacturing methods in mind. In the case of a transition to additive manufacturing technologies, an analysis and proposal of the next procedure is always necessary. In some cases, the solution is to find the optimal position in the building chamber, and in some cases, on the contrary, a complete redesign of the analyzed component is necessary.

Optimizing the design at the component level is the easiest way to ensure the feasibility of production by the chosen method of additive manufacturing. There are several possible ways to modify the geometry of the component, from the simple removal of problem areas with regard to the limits of the chosen 3D printing method to a complete redesign with an emphasis on the efficiency of using additive manufacturing using generative design tools and the integration of multiple system elements into a single component for higher reliability. We offer you support in these activities using our own capacities and our partner network.

The journey does not end with the creation of an optimized design for your component. The first step is to choose a material for 3D printing which cannot always copy the chemical composition of the original material, so we will help you choose a suitable alternative. In the case of serial production, it is necessary to ensure that the repeatability of production is guaranteed from the point of view of production tolerances and print quality which is mainly represented by very low internal porosity and surface quality. In the case of copper alloys, it is also necessary to apply heat treatments and with the possibility of additional surface treatments or machining of the functional surfaces of the part.