Digital Manufacturing Accelerates a Sustainable Industrial Revolution
reprinted from www.weforum.org Ride into the future … 3D printing millions of industrial parts more efficiently and sustainably than ever before. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is shaping up to be one of the most significant opportunities of our lifetime. We are already seeing jobs, policies, industries and entire economies shifting as our digital and physical worlds merge. This represents an important opportunity for business and for society. With this industrial revolution, we have a collective responsibility to ensure sustainability is a priority from the start. According to the World Economic Forum, the value of digital transformations in the Fourth Industrial Revolution is estimated at $100 trillion in the next 10 years alone, across all sectors, industries and geographies. The manufacturing sector, which has long been a driver of global prosperity and economic growth, is key to this transformation. Emerging technologies such as AI, robotics and 3D printing are disrupting the manufacturing industry and unlocking new ideas and potential that were previously unimaginable. With this change comes opportunity. 3D printing, in particular, is at the forefront, given its ability to reshape the sector. If we make the right decisions, it can also drive a sustainable impact for our planet, people and communities. [...]
Multi-jet Fusion Technology Sparks 3D Printing Revolution
Doug Campbell, vice president of SICAM, with his company’s multi-jet fusion machine. Reprint from NJBIZ.com Hillsborough-based SICAM Corp. specializes in 3D printing, prototyping, tooling, and manufacturing. Incorporated in 1990, SICAM has clients in 38 states from a variety of industries: aerospace, automotive, computer, consumer, government, industrial, medical, pharmaceutical and telecommunications. The company also now owns a multi-jet fusion machine that vice president Doug Campbell says will make 3D printing technology a more viable option than previous technologies. Campbell said SICAM is using the machine, which it purchased for $400,000 from HP Inc., to change manufacturing. He predicts the multi-jet fusion machine will revolutionize 3D printing — or additive manufacturing — for production. Until the 3D printing equipment became cost-effective, there was no point in designing for additive manufacturing, Campbell said. Multi-jet fusion is a powder-based technology that does not use lasers and produces strong, lightweight products. The technology is better than other 3D processes including injection molding because it is faster and less expensive, Campbell explained. “The advantage of designing for additive manufacturing, what is going to change in manufacturing, is the concept of now you can design with more freedoms,” Campbell said. “A good example is Volkswagen who makes an [...]
HP 3D Printing for Shoe Insoles
Today we are going to take a look at a company using 3D printing to manufacture customized orthotic devices. iOrthotics makes custom insoles for podiatrists around the world. Their goal is to create a better, more scalable solution for their clients through digital manufacturing. Traditionally, iOrthotics' method for creating an insole required a mold. This involved casting the patient's foot in plaster. This could be uncomfortable for the patient and would often lead to inaccurate measurements as the casts were taken in a non-weight-bearing position. Once a mold was complete, orthotics were made through traditional methods that required skilled labor and finishing. These methods often needed multiple fittings to achieve a satisfactory result. But perhaps the biggest downside was the waste from these processes. In order to keep up with increasing demand and to develop a competitive advantage, iOrthotics formulated a digital workflow by adopting 3D scanning and the HP Jet Fusion 4200. The first step was to enable 3D scanning thereby eliminating the need for a mold. Advancements in 3D scanning enabled more exact measurements and the foot could be measured in a more organic position. With the CAD file ready, iOrthotics could then use their Jet Fusion 4200 to print the [...]
Mastercam 2019 Find Level From Geometry
There is an underutilized feature in Mastercam called Find Level from Geometry, that can be found inside of the Levels Manager. This is a useful tool when you look at part files that have lots of different levels, each with their own geometry, whether it is wireframe, solids, or surface models on the screen. Usually what users do is turn all their levels off and then one by one, turn each one back on to see if they can find which level has their geometry. This tool though allows you to quickly find what level your geometry is on so you can keep making changes to the right level and organize everything quickly and easily. First, let’s look at a typical part file inside of Mastercam. As you can see in the example below, in the Levels Manager there are 12 levels, each with at least 9 entities on a level. When importing assembly models or other solid models in Mastercam, they will typically assign themselves to a new level with the solid body name as the level name if the configuration is set up correctly. Usually, looking at these level names isn’t really clear what level contains which solid body and wireframe. [...]
Moldmaking with 3D Prints
Moldmaking with desktop 3D printing allows engineers and designers to get much more functionality from their 3D printer, beyond prototyping alone. Moldmaking opens a world of production materials and provides the ability to produce short-run batches and test mold designs prior to committing to expensive tooling. Download an educational White Paper from Formlabs to learn about mold making strategies including injection molding, thermoforming and casting elastomers. Just complete the form below and you will gain access to the White Paper.
Import Organic Shapes into CAD – Part 3
This post is Part 3 of the topic: Leverage and import organic shapes into CAD and today we will introduce you to Generative Design. In previous posts, we briefly discussed the value of having the ability to capture organic shapes for use in CAD design. To illustrate this process, scanned our engineer’s hand and then integrated that scan into CAD in order to design a rotating Nespresso Pod holder. Now, we will finalize the CAD design phase by using Fusion's Generative Design, to assist us during the model creation process. By now, the Nespresso pod holder is almost complete. The base integrates the hand and forearm and we have a carousel that sits and rotates on a turntable about the center of the palm. Now we need to determine how the turntable will connect to the pod holders. Traditionally, we would make our initial attempt and create a shape that we think would be structurally sound. We would then run that shape through FEA; make modifications, and repeat this cycle to ensure that we don't over design the part. A short cut to this iterative cycle is to use Fusion's Generative Design. In essence, the software generates a design or shape, based on [...]