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The lack of focus on additive manufacturing design means that 3D printing cannot reach its full potential. But DFAM doesn’t have to be intimidating, he writes Nick Sondej. This is just one of his everyday engineering workflows.
Let’s face reality. At one time or another, we’ve all hit a setback in the design process and thought, “No!” Let’s 3D print it and see what happens!” I know I have.
The problem is that all too often we do this without first fitting the design into the printing process. As a result, the reputation and use of 3D printing as a serious engineering tool is undermining.
But good engineering requires both creative experimentation and detailed analytical design. Therefore, taking healthy risks and creating prototypes with uncertainty is a necessary part of the engineering process, and 3D printing allows us to create a wide variety of part geometries that challenge the capabilities of other traditional methods. Easy to create.
But 3D printing is just one manufacturing process. Specifically, another family of manufacturing processes. If you want to get the most out of the variety of AMs you choose, you have to design it intentionally. Additionally, if you want to leverage 3D printing as a powerful tool, you should consider this mindset during the prototyping stage as well.
False start and past baggage
It’s no secret that the early days of the additive industry were marked by unrealistic hype. “Every home has a 3D printer,” I was told, “I can 3D print anything.”
Since then, many 3D printer manufacturers have seen the light and pivoted to emphasize intentional DFAM (Design for Additive Manufacturing) and target the best applications for 3D printing, but this old mindset. The echo of is still lingering among vendors and users.
As engineers and designers, we are ridiculed when we try to “just injection mold” or “just machine” a project without first considering both the technical and economic requirements of the part under discussion. will be Capabilities of the selected manufacturing process. Once that manufacturing process is selected, it typically goes through a structured design process to ensure that the final component or assembly is specifically designed with the capabilities and limitations of that technology in mind. For example, you may design a CNC machined pocket with a corner radius larger than the selected end mill radius. Or injection molded components with consistent wall thickness to avoid warping during shrinkage.
But when it comes to 3D printing, this traditional design in manufacturing wisdom tends to be thrown out the window. Instead, 3D printers are treated as “magic boxes” that can print anything. When a poorly optimized design fails, the tool is to blame and 3D printing is considered unreliable.
Luckily, deliberately designing a printing technology for a successful 3D printing application is simply designing it for a different manufacturing process. As an addition to your existing suite of tools, DFAM is easy to integrate into your existing engineering design work. Here are the steps:
1. Identify the root cause of the problem you are trying to solve
2. Identify the economic and functional requirements of potential solutions
3. Select a specific manufacturing process (AM or other) that is likely to meet these requirements.
4. Start designing a solution that meets your specific requirements
5. As the design progresses, start adjusting the design to your manufacturing process of choice
6. Build a prototype design (by AM or conventional manufacturing)
7. Test the component and measure its performance for the intended operation
8. Iterate until a solution is found and modify the manufacturing process if necessary
You’re probably aware that this isn’t rocket science. You may think I am wasting your time. I’m not, but you’re right about the first part. DFAM doesn’t have to be complicated. This workflow is nearly identical to how we have already designed it for other manufacturing processes today.
There are two important points about this workflow. First, take an integrated approach to 3D printing and add it to your toolset. It doesn’t replace your existing tools or view your project only through an additional lens. The world of engineering is vast and full of challenges, so choosing the right tools for the right job is essential.
Next, with regard to step 5, we need to consider that 3D printing is not a monolith but a whole family of different technologies, each with its own subset of design guidelines and best practices.
These technologies have some similarities. For example, 3D printers typically make parts of her one layer at a time. But even among its 3D printing process characteristics, some processes build layers upwards while others (especially Stereolithography (SLA) or some Digital Light Processing (DLP)) build downwards. . Gravity affects these processes very differently. The design of features such as cantilever overhangs should be approached differently based on the target AM process.
DFAM // Where do we go from here?
Everything you need to know about designing a particular 3D printing process could occupy dozens of articles. (And I wrote an entire course on this topic at my previous company, so I should know.) But more generally, there’s a simple starting point for improving your DFAM techniques.
First, identify the types of 3D printers you have access to, learn how they build parts, and the physics behind the processes they use (e.g., FDM, SLA, SLS, DMLS, etc.). This will help you understand what performance is realistic from your process.
Manufacturer websites are often a good source of tutorial material on process design and can provide design guides detailing the geometric limitations of the technology, such as minimum feature sizes for various axes. It often happens. They help us understand what the technology can’t do, but they don’t help us understand the full range of what we can accomplish. Therefore, do not limit yourself to what the supplier indicates.
Next, familiarize yourself with the available materials. Datasheets allow comparison with current materials. Print some test parts and intentionally break them to get a real feel for their mechanical properties and performance.
As always, the best design techniques are learned by solving real problems, not as theoretical exercises. Create real projects and find learning materials from user groups, design tips, and other users using the same type of print to do real engineering and design work. Get advice and feedback not only from your colleagues, but also from outside peers who use the same technology.
Finally, remember that 3D printing is not the only tool, and like any engineering project, off-the-shelf components and other traditionally manufactured parts can often be used to add functionality to assemblies. stay here.
You won’t become an expert overnight, but you will be able to solve more complex engineering problems with less time and effort. Come to think of it, that might be the real magic at work here.
About the author
Nick Sondej is a Mechanical Engineer, Founder and Principal of Matti Group. Matti Group is an engineering services company focused on helping clients solve their technical and business challenges using advanced technology. Previously, he was an early employee of Markforged, where he led the development of engineering’s first principles approach to 3D printing application development, and spent nearly a decade building his curriculum for additional training at Markforged University. spent. In his spare time, he cooks a lot, takes long bike rides, surfs poorly, all with a side order of particularly silly jokes.
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