Additive Manufacturing Innovating the Future of Aviation
As the adoption of additive manufacturing processes continues to take hold in aviation, with leaders like Airbus incorporating hundreds of printed parts on their new generation aircraft, and Boeing production lines, we’re starting to recognize a next level of maturity in how regulations are being implemented to accommodate for these changes. Airline carriers are beginning to use additive manufacturing to reduce inventory and alleviate supply chain constraints, but there is no better example of 3D printing’s robust and flexible usage than on the design of aircraft interiors. Many airlines understand that the accommodating comfort and offering a differentiated passenger experience are central to their customer’s loyalty and provide a lasting impression for their brand. This is one area that many carriers spare no expense or effort in order to create the refined and distinct cabin experiences that their customers demand. And while every part on an aircraft must meet strict airworthiness standards, the lower criticality of interior components allows for the effective introduction of additive manufacturing to enable customization of interior components cost effectively for the first time. As manufacturers look to the future to define how 3D printing and connected processes can better meet their business demands and reduce supply chain complexities, [...]
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Advanced Holes
Since as early as SolidWorks 2000, SolidWorks has had the Hole Wizard tool to quickly help you create a hole on your part with a predefined cross-section, based on the standard and sizes that you chose, but now there is a new tool in SolidWorks 2017 called Advanced Holes. This is useful when the hole gets a little more involved, containing multi-sized cross-sections, like trying to create the holes for the shoulder bolts in the motor mount assembly shown above. This tool allows you to define the near side and far side faces of the hole, with differing specifications. To use this tool, go to Insert > Feature > Advanced Hole. The property manager opens with the Near Side flyout displayed. Select a face to start creating the advanced hole and you will notice that a temporary preview of the hole appears, based on your initial selections. To add the next portion of the whole, click Insert Element Below Active Element. Here, you can use the pull-down arrow to define this element as a hole, then set your specifications for that as well. The last element will be a clearance hole for the threaded portion of the shoulder bolt. Just check the box [...]
Why Product Manufacturing Information is Important
By Joel Pollet, Senior Services Specialist Historically, machine shops relied on two items from their customer to fulfill a machining order; a CAD model and an inspection drawing. During my 3 ½ decades in our industry, the high-end, integrated CAD/CAM systems have always been able to convey manufacturing information from CAD to CAM or CAD to CAE. But what about CAD/CAM interfacing, such as Solidworks into Mastercam? These are two completely independent products from independent companies with independent development paths and unrelated requirements. Sharing model geometry is about as far as they go, but times are changing rapidly. Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) offers a way to convey dimensional information, tolerance information, datum information (where applicable), as well as GD&T information between dissimilar systems. There are higher levels of PMI that also support the transfer of other types of attributes or non-geometric information (part number, manufacturer, etc.). If the designer of a part can convey all of this information to their machine shop partners as embedded PMI within the CAD model, wouldn’t that make the shop much more efficient by having one less document to manage and also offer a far less ambiguous way to present dimensional information? Most modern day CAD systems support [...]
3D Printed Aircraft Interior Innovations
Think about the last time you took a commercial flight. What are some of the distinct things you remember about the aircraft cabin? If you could, how would you change some of the design elements using 3D printing technologies? The Paris Airshow recently took place and Stratasys was there to exhibit some of the new and innovative ways they think about aircraft interiors. From individual part weight reduction to a more comfortable layout and design, the future of aircraft interiors is set to take off in innovative ways. To celebrate the huge aviation industry event they have created an augmented reality experience that takes you inside of an airline cabin to ponder all of the ways that 3D printing can impact passenger aircraft interior design and creation. Just click on the video below to experience it. For more information on our complete line of Stratasys 3D printers, please click the button below.
Simultaneous Synchronized Scanning
This blog post is going to show you how to scan a mid-size part with tiny features. When scanning a model, you're usually faced with the decision of using a scanner that either has a large scan envelope and good resolution, or a scanner that has a small scan envelope with high resolution. But what if you needed the best of both worlds, that is, to capture both a larger part with small fine details? One way to achieve this is to run two scanners simultaneously, and synchronize them to the same turntable. The Geomagic's Capture scanner has an accuracy of about .0035" and is good for scanning mid-size objects. When scanning a model, it's able to pick up the majority of the geometry, but the small fine features get washed out. This is where simultaneous synchronized scanning comes in. You can synchronize Geomagic's Mini-Capture scanner to the same turntable that is aligned to the Capture scanner. The Mini-Capture has a smaller scan envelope, but an impressive accuracy of about .0015." This is what is needed for capturing the fine details on a small part. To run the scans simultaneously, press the Scan button and the turntable moves. Each scanner takes turns scanning [...]
Infinite Build 3D Printer
There’s a revolutionary new technology in 3D printing called the Stratasys Infinite Build. 3D printing has provided a means to produce highly accurate parts in a variety of build sizes. With production machines like the Fortus 900 and Objet 1000, industry leaders in both aerospace and automotive have been able to experiment with increasingly larger prototypes and production parts. Nonetheless, there has always been a ceiling (or cap) on the size of a part making 3D printing infeasible for certain processes. With the new Infinite-Build 3D Demonstrator, we're provided a glimpse of what the future could hold for 3D printing in manufacturing. Developed for large part production, the Infinite-Build is designed to address the uncompromising requirements of aerospace, automotive and other industries. Based on proven FDM technology, the demonstrator can generate large, lightweight, thermoplastic parts with repeatable mechanical properties. Rather than printing layer by layer in an enclosed build chamber, the solution uses an infinite-build approach by literally turning the 3D printer on its side with an open chamber. Parts are printed on a vertical plane, resulting in practically unlimited part size in the build direction. The Inifinite build uses micro pellets the size of a grain of sand rather than traditional filament. [...]