3d printing company Renishaw is collaborating with software supplier Simufact to improve laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) builds. The companies reportedly plan to use accurate simulation to help streamline additive manufacturing (AM) build preparation by integrating Renishaw's QuantAM build preparation software into Simufact Additive 2020. Renishaw and Simufact say that they are also working together to improve the simulation of the metallurgy of commonly used materials to help predict and compensate for any stress and distortion during the printing process.
‘Simufact Additive 2020 broadens the scope of our build optimisation software and underlines our commitment to openness and interoperability with third party products,’ said Dr Hendrik Schafstall, CEO at Simufact. ‘With the integration of the QuantAM build processor, we can provide an end-to-end build optimisation process, helping the users of Renishaw systems to produce AM components with repeatable dimensional accuracy right first time.’
According to the companies the increasing adoption of multi-laser LPBF systems for production applications presents new challenges, since faster energy input from multiple lasers means that metal components often experience higher temperatures during the printing process, affecting their microstructure and resulting in different residual stress and distortion.
This story uses material from Renishaw, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
