True End-To-End 3D Printing Software

Autodesk, Inc. (San Rafael, CA) is doubling-down on their vision of Netfabb as a true end-to-end additive manufacturing solution by bolstering the software with enhanced simulation capabilities, new hybrid manufacturing functionality and collaborative multi-head 3D printing. The additions further extend Netfabb capabilities for additive manufacturing that allow users to test, optimize, prepare and 3D print commercial-quality products. This software helps shops move from CAD design to finished part efficiently. With its connected software for additive manufacturing and design, it provides valuable insight to help large and small shops improve their material selection, process simulation to validate build strategies, optimize designs and drive machines.

“Not only is this software easy to use, it does much of the heavy lifting in preparing models for 3D printing,” noted Dan Ko, the strategic initiatives lead at 3D printer Shapeways, Inc. (New York, NY). “Netfabb streamlines the process of fixing common 3D print file problems for additive manufacturing. If we didn’t have it to automate a large portion of file preparation process, each build would be substantially more time consuming and labor intensive.” In this latest update, users get new tools that will help them stay innovative and competitive in the 3D printing industry, including:

• Cloud-Based Simulation. The wide-spread adoption of metal additive manufacturing has been historically slow due to the lack of predictability in the manufacturing process, as well as the high costs of iteration. Simulation for Netfabb helps shops to predict and adjust for deformation, allowing part designers and manufacturing engineers to optimize designs and reduce the number of iterations required for reliable build results.
• Hybrid Subtractive and Additive Workflows. Subtractive manufacturing processes are often required to improve the surface finish and accuracy of features on additively manufactured parts. Extra material must be added to the original design to accommodate these subtractive processes, creating a larger geometry referred to as the near-net shape. Netfabb now includes solid modeling and near-net shape planning capabilities based on PowerShape technology. This new hybrid manufacturing functionality allows users to keep models in solid form and take advantage of solid modeling tools aligned to CAM workflows. It also allows manufacturers to keep sight of the original solid model and easily track the near-net shape as it is built to allow for the subtractive processes. With better visibility of the original model and the near-net shape, Netfabb opens a connected workflow between build preparation and post-processing operations.
• Collaborative Multi-head 3D Printing. Also included in this update is breakthrough control technology from Project Escher that powers machines with multiple extrusion-based print heads working together to print a single part. This collaborative 3D printing process makes printing industrial-scale parts with greater speed and detail a possibility. The company is also open-sourcing the hardware specifications and the software required to create machines with this new collaborative 3D printing capability. By doing so, hardware vendors will be able to create multi-head printers that can print parts far faster than conventional single-head printers.

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“The new production, optimization and simulation tools within Netfabb are very exciting and we are delighted to be working with Autodesk to enable a streamlined additive manufacturing print experience for our joint customers,” said Stephen Anderson, the software director at Renishaw plc (Wotton-under-Edge, England). “We look forward to future integration opportunities with the QuantAM ‘workbench’ series of APIs that can be made available to those wishing to leverage the power of our additive manufacturing platform. This will give users of Netfabb the confidence that any toolpaths they generate will be optimized for our AM systems, ensuring maximum part quality every time.”

Autodesk, Inc., 111 McInnis Parkway, San Rafael, CA 94903, 415-507-5000, Fax: 415-507-5100, www.autodesk.com.