Simulation shows how the additive manufacturing process distorted a bike stem after it was removed from its supports.
Engineers put a lot of time into designing parts to a specific tolerance. Unfortunately, metal additive manufacturing (AM) causes thermal stresses that can significantly deform these parts.
If the part warps — even a little — it could affect performance and how it fits into an assembly.
To predict and compensate for part deformations, engineers can use ANSYS Additive Print. The tool uses these predictions to ensures the print deforms into the part the engineer intended.
Simulation Ensures Additive Manufacturing Prints Right the First Time
In just a few weeks, ANSYS Additive Print helped optimize the AM process. Images courtesy of Croft Filters.
Traditionally, engineers use trial-and-error to correct parts that print out-of-spec.
Because there are so many factors that can affect your print, this method could cost a lot of time and money.
“One of our customers spent six months trying to stop their part from deforming. They changed the lattice structure, added supports and nothing worked,” says Dr. Brent Stucker, director of additive manufacturing at ANSYS.
“Our customer gave their new intern Additive Print. In just a few weeks, they simulated the additive process, ran the automatic compensation algorithm and printed their part to spec,” adds Stucker.
Additive Print simulations show how:
- Different scan vectors affect the thermal/physical properties of the part.
- Ineffective heat transfer causes porous regions and bad microstructure within the part.
- Stress and strains from the cooling metal affect the effectiveness of supports.
Additive Print can also predict and correct blade crashes.
Optimizing AM parts with trial-and-error is expensive and time consuming. Simulation is a more effective way of optimizing the printing of parts.
ANSYS Additive Print is part of ANSYS Additive Suite. The product also includes:
- ANSYS Workbench Additive
- Topology and lattice optimization
To see how ANSYS Additive simulation tools compares to experiments, sign up for the webinar: ANSYS Additive: Simulation vs. Experiments – How do ANSYS Solutions Stack Up?
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