Page 26 - 3D Metal Printing Spring 2016

3D FEATURE
Designing for Additive Manufacturing:
Considerations for the Full Value Stream—
This two-part series condenses some of the limitless design possibilities inherent in additive manufacturing and captures advancing design strategies. Part One explores the design cycle and how pieces of that cycle interact and correlate, as well as designing for material properties and post-processing. Part Two, in the next issue of 3D Metal Printing, reviews producibility rules and guidelines, as well as topology optimization and other design-for-function opportunities. BY CAITLIN OSWALD
As additive manufacturing contin- ues to mature into a robust pro- duction process, complimentary
methods of designing for it must develop in parallel. The majority of design engineers have been trained under the conventional education methods of subtractive manu- facturing. Switching that paradigm will take more than just adjusting a few rules, but a complete evolution in education and prac- tice. When designers are urged to be creative and innovative, the design box that meets fit, form and function requirements expands exponentially.
This new idea of starting from nothing instead of from a block of material, while overwhelming for some, becomes limitless for students and young design engineers without decades of strict rules and guide- lines filling their heads. However, the fast pace of additive-manufacturing adoption requires those who previously trained for conventional design to rapidly retrain and rethink the way they design to meet the vast new options afforded by additive. It’s important to realize that while “complexity is free,” there are still guidelines and
Caitlin Oswald is an additive manufac- turing specialist with LAI International, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ; 800/840-1126, www.laico.com. For more information on Design for Additive Manufacturing and other additive-manufacturing training opportunities offered by LAI, contact Caitlin Oswald directly at coswald@laico.com, 612/300-8722.
instruction that can make your additive design the most efficient when consider- ing the parameters of cost, time and qual- ity.
The Optimal Additive- Design Engineer
For decades, the three ideals of design, manufacturing and cost have lived in silos. While it’s clear even in the conventional design cycle how important it is for these three skillsets to collaborate and under- stand each other, the importance is mag- nified in an additive-manufacturing envi- ronment. Where conventional designs take weeks or months to be realized and manufactured, the additive cycle is quick—sometimes overnight—and design faults can immediately be identified. With these design, manufacturing and cost iter- ations occurring so quickly, it’s reasonable to see how these three skillsets can start to learn from each other and meld into one optimized approach. By integrating
Part One
Cost Analyst
Manufacturing Engineer
Design Engineer
24 | 3D METAL PRINTING • SPRING 2016
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