British metal additive manufacturing specialist Renishaw has extended its partnership with topology optimization software company ParaMatters.
Through the collaboration, the two parties continue to pursue opportunities to make 3D printing easier for manufacturers. This includes the ongoing optimization of ParaMatters CogniCAD software.
“We worked with Renishaw to establish a smooth workflow that made it possible to automate the entire process from design to manufacturing,” explains Michael Bogomolny, ParaMatters Co-Founder and CTO.
One of the new additions to CogniCAD includes “Click to Print” functionality, which will help assess the “printability” of generative designed parts.
ParaMatters generative design
ParaMatters CogniCAD software is a generative design platform enabling design engineers to rethink lightweighting of parts.
Complete with finite element analysis (FEA) the program promises high fidelity designs based on specific constraints, e.g. stiffness and stress. These models can then be automatically converted to CAD for further iterations, or 3D printing.
Case in point – the Nightstalker motorcycle
Together with Renishaw, CogniCAD software was applied to the design of the Nightstalker, for luxury motorcycle manufacturer ECOSSE Moto Works.
The engine mount bracket produced as a result of this collaboration resulted in a 35% weight reduction over the traditionally machined alternative – helping to improve the fuel efficiency and overall dynamics of the bike. These benefits, which prove how effective 3D printing can be in a production setting, will be the focus of the companies’ future work together.
Highlighting some of the challenges to additive adoption Stephen Anderson, AM Business Development Manager at Renishaw Inc., asserts, “Generative design has a clear role to play in lightweighting parts that cannot be produced by computer numerical control (CNC) machining alone. However, for many manufacturers, the initial investment required to perform such optimizations is too high,”
“By working with ParaMatters potential users can easily try topology optimization, see the results and then engage with Renishaw to assess final suitability for additive manufacturing.”
More from Renishaw
In a further step to increase additive adoption, Renishaw will also give ParaMatters access to its 3D printers for joint customer projects.
Most recently, Renishaw announced a partnership with Swedish engineering group Sandvik to increase its additive manufacturing capacity.
The company’s most recent machine, the RenAM 500Q, is a quad laser system and was released at Formnext 2017.
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Featured image shows parts designed and 3D printed through ParaMatters CogniCAD. Image via ParaMatters
