Wohlers Associates, Inc., has announced a training course organised in conjunction with leading software and additive manufacturing enterprise, Materialise.
The Fort Collins, Colorado based consulting firm will hold the course at the Materialise headquarters location in Leuven, Belgium. Materialise will host the Materialise World Summit later this week, you can read our preview in this interview with CEO Fried Vancraen here.
Design for Additive Manufacturing
Running from May 31st to June 2, 2017 participants will receive, “expert instruction on methods of Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), such as the consolidation of many parts into a fewer number of them.”
According to Wohlers Associates DfAM can,
Result in significant savings in manufacturing processes, part numbers, assembly, labor, inventory, and certification paperwork. The course will also include topology optimization, which is a technique of letting mathematics decide where to place material to optimize the strength-to-weight ratio. It can produce organic and “bionic” structures that reduce material and weight by up to 60%, while preserving strength.
A similar course was previously given by Wohlers Associates to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and was highly rated by participants according to the consulting firm.
Speaking about the forthcoming course principal consultant and president of Wohlers Associates, Terry Wohlers said, “We are very happy to collaborate with Materialise, a company with an outstanding reputation and extraordinary track record.” Wohlers added, ““Designers, engineers, and managers wanting to learn how to design products for AM will benefit from more than 55 years of combined company experience at Materialise and Wohlers Associates.”
As previously reported by 3D Printing Industry, additive manufacturing was used to make the spoiler actuator valve block for an Airbus A380 and reduce weight by 35%.
Insights into additive manufacturing for 2017
Recently we asked Terry Wohlers about the insights gained during preparation of the most recent Wohlers Report. Now in the 22nd year of consecutive publication, the Wohlers Report has become mandatory reading for anyone in the 3D printing industry. In the most recent report several trends including the, “growing number of American manufacturers of industrial AM systems,” and a 2.5 times growth in the level of metal powder sales are identified.
During the forthcoming course, “Participants will gain valuable hands-on experience by designing parts using CAD and special software tools for additive manufacturing.” The lead instructor is associate consultant, Olaf Diegel, PhD. Wohlers said, “Olaf has created more than 80 commercial products and is an engaging instructor, making him ideal for the course. The people at NASA had great things to say about him.”
More information about the DfAM course is available here.
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Featured image shows the hydraulic manifold for an Airbus A380 spoiler. Image via Airbus.
