The TCT Magazine - Latest News

Laser-Sintering's Orthopaedic Uses to be Showcased by EOS at AAOS 2010

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

EOS will exhibit innovative orthopaedic applications — and a working EOSINT M 270 Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) system — at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting, 9th-13th March, in New Orleans, LA. The company will also present new process and quality enhancements for their manufacturing equipment at its booth — 5573.

"Laser-sintering technology manufactures completely customisable products cost-effectively, no matter how intricate their shape is. That's invaluable to the orthopaedic industry," said Martin Bullemer, Key Account Manager Medical of EOS. "Now that EOS offers greater traceability and process documentation as well, we expect this sector of our medical business to grow rapidly."

EOS plastic and metal laser-sintering systems are increasingly being used to create devices, implants, ortheses, prostheses, surgical equipment, and instrument prototypes. The systems allow medical designers to tailor-make parts that serve doctors' and patients' individual needs. In addition, laser-sintering enables engineers to create complex geometries such as porous surfaces that encourage osteointegration, and implants with mesh or scaffold structures that are lighter-weight and more comfortable for patients.

Materials available from EOS for orthopaedic applications include polyamides, a high-performance PEEK polymer, stainless steels, cobalt chromes, and different titanium grades.

Recent developments that EOS will highlight at AAOS are new end-to-end quality assurance and manufacturing process controls. DMLS now features an Integrated Process Chain Management module to ensure documentation of materials and processes. In addition, plastics laser-sintering systems now include as an option new Part Property Profiles (PPP), which offer designers constant access to standardised property profiles and corresponding material values. As a result, the PPP enables manufacturers to choose, from predetermined settings, the approach that is most cost-effective for their needs.

Laurent Cataldo, General Manager of BESTinCLASS, a micro-machining company that is in a joint venture with EOS, will be at the booth to display machined parts and offer technical background. BESTinCLASS provides post-processing, including extremely fine surface finishing and polishing, for laser-sintered metal parts. Several EOS customers who supply orthopaedic services will also exhibit at the AAOS Annual Meeting.

Register for Your Free 30-day Tryout Version of PTC's Pro/ENGINEER

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Pro/ENGINEER integrated CAD/CAD/CAE solutions are the world standard in providing you with everything you need to achieve the highest quality design in the fastest possible time. But don't take our word for it — try it yourself. We invite you to experience the power and ease of Pro/ENGINEER in this 30-day free tryout version. You will experience hands-on tutorials that will walk you through real world product development tasks from conceptual design through analysis and documentation.

"The ease of creating and visualising complex shaped parts with Pro/ENGINEER has proven to reduce errors." — Paul Heatherington, Lead Designer, Burnside Autocyl, Tullow, County Carlow, Ireland.

I'm ready to try Pro/ENGINEER!

Quickcast Process Offered by I.C.M. Eliminates Need for Tooling to Create Wax Patterns

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Quickcast was created to meet the needs of the investment casting industry. While stereolithography and rapid prototyping in general have greatly reduced time-to-market, Quickcast patterns for investment casting have had the most profound effect on this industry.

Quickcast replaces the time-consuming process of creating tooling to produce wax patterns, allowing the review of metal designs in days instead of months. This rapid pattern creation also provides foundries with invaluable shrink and gating information prior to hard tooling.

The SLA QuickCast process is a build style that leaves a hollowed out, honeycombed structure as the pattern. This hollowed pattern allows the resin to flash out without expanding and cracking the ceramic shell.

I.C.M.'s capacity includes a build envelope of 250 x 250 x 250 mm. Larger parts are built in sections and joined together. The company has a complete in-house machine shop to produce alignment fixtures for multiple segment Quickcast patterns. The solid-state laser with a beam diameter of 0.015 mm allows the creation of small intricate details and thin wall parts.

The quality of QuickCast patterns is defined by a number of parameters. The first is the accuracy of the build. I.C.M regularly fine-tunes its SLA's for maintaining consistent accuracy. The post-processing is the second most critical aspect of quality. This includes resin drainage, surface finishing and sealing of leaks. Every Quickcast pattern is both vacuum and pressure tested to ensure its structural integrity.

Some of the services offered by I.C.M. are:

Centrifugal resin drainage
Precision hand finishing
Vacuum and Pressure testing
Assembly and joining of large patterns

The company is currently offering two free samples in Accura60 resin. Please contact Eamonn Joyce for more information.

ARRK's ULTra Vehicles Ready for Final Testing at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ARRK Europe's Basildon Technical Centre has completed the design and build of 22 ULTra vehicles ready for the final stages of testing of the world's first Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) system at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.

All 22 vehicles have been engineered, prototyped, tested and manufactured at ARRK's Product Development Workshop in Basildon. Phil Griffiths, the General Manager at Basildon's Technical Centre, said, "As the chosen vehicle partner for Advanced Transport Systems' revolutionary PRT system, our in-house workshop has provided the focal point for ULTra over the last six years. Our trusted engineering applied their global expertise and knowledge to develop the first ULTra prototypes and have meticulously hand-built all of the vehicles ready for their final commissioning at Heathrow."

ARRK's Product Development Workshop supports the company's extensive product and component engineering team by offering customers access to advanced development and build capabilities. This scalable and flexible service accommodates low-volume assembly and supply, bespoke/mule vehicle build, rig and fixture design and build, competition vehicle engineering, prototype component manufacture and instrumentation and test.

Trumpf UK to Use MM Live as Springboard to Launch into Micro Manufacturing Industry

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The organiser of MM Live 2010, Rapid News Communications, is pleased to announce that Trumpf UK, one of the world's leading companies in manufacturing technology, has signed up to exhibit at the forthcoming show, which takes place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, 19th-20th October.

Exhibiting for the first time at MM Live, Trumpf UK will take the opportunity to launch into the micro manufacturing industry its new range of ultra-short pulse lasers. Kevin Roughton, Product Manager of TruMicro Lasers at Trumpf UK commented, "We have chosen the exhibition for the UK launch of our new TruMicro Compact 5000 Series of ultra-short pulse lasers, which are ideally suited for a range of micromachining processes including cutting, structuring, ablation and drilling." The company promises that a visit to its stand could prove extremely worthwhile for anyone involved in the manufacture of small to micro-precision parts.

Duncan Wood, Managing Director of Events at Rapid News, commented, "We are delighted that Trumpf has joined the event as it further confirms the importance of MM Live and the micro manufacturing sector on a national and international level."

The start of 2010 has seen strong exhibition sales from the industry with many companies forecasting a positive outlook and continued growth for micro precision manufacturing in the year ahead. MM Live is delighted to announce that several other companies will be joining Trumpf UK in making their show debut including: Newport Spectra-Physics, Laser Trader, INEX and Applied Laser Engineering.

Other leading manufacturing companies who will be making a return in 2010 include: Rainford Precision Machines, SwissTec AG, Hitachi High Technologies, IBS Precision Engineering, Rondol, Laser Micro Machining, Microfabrica Inc., Optimax, Accumold, Micro Systems Ltd, plus many more.

MM Live is a global showcase for all aspects of the mass manufacture of small to micro precision parts, whether a company can make them to order or supply the machinery to mill, cut or mould. Exhibits cover the full spectrum of micro manufacturing techniques from laser cutting, welding, and micro machining to injection moulding, inspection & measurement, photo etching, handling and assembly.

MM Live 2010 is co-located with TCT Live, the UK's number one product development and manufacturing technology exhibition.

A full exhibitor list can be found at www.mmliveuk.com.

Specialist Additive Layer Manufacturing Consultancy Launched by CRDM

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

CRDM has launched an Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) consultancy arm to complement its established business as a leading UK provider of rapid prototyping, tooling and moulding services.

The Additive Layer Manufacturing Consultancy (ALMC) gives clients access to a team of consultants with extensive ALM experience all under one roof at CRDM's base in High Wycombe.

ALMC advises manufacturers and designers on the many benefits of using ALM, including re-engineering existing products for performance improvement and reducing assembly times.

The consultancy produces detailed, tailored reports in a choice of formats, including written documents and presentations, seminars and one-to-one coaching sessions. In addition, video presentations provide an even more effective way for large organisations to share findings.

Among its services, ALMC can produce business plans for the adoption of large-scale ALM within organisations and offers project management services, incorporating the related fields of moulding and assembly projects.

"We are ideally placed to support manufacturers interested in the considerable benefits offered by ALM technology, thanks to our position as the leading ALM company in the UK," explained CRDM founder and Managing Director Graham Bennett.

He added, "Our team of world-class experts in ALM technology, materials science and metals finishing helps manufacturers optimise the use of ALM technology through specific recommendations about efficiency, waste reduction and tailored production of technically-challenging parts.

"We've always provided customers with the best possible advice on developing ALM applications as an integral part of our service offering. ALMC enables us to provide expertise from product concept to final production within a structured, managed partnership."

Making the most of Additive Layer Manufacturing
ALM has made dramatic inroads into mainstream manufacturing since its infancy in the 1980s and now provides a highly-efficient, precise production method. Complex assemblies can be manufactured using fewer components while accommodating subtle design changes at no additional cost. The process keeps component costs largely independent of complexity for assemblies that might otherwise require expensive tooling or many individual parts.

Using a layer-upon-layer process, where material is built up to form a CAD-designed part in a matter of hours, complex internal structures can be created. The method is often faster and less wasteful than traditional techniques, as internal shapes can be built ‘from the inside out' and surplus material reused. This makes it the ideal choice when working with high-value raw materials.

ALM requires specialist equipment and expertise, so many of the leading global engineering suppliers and OEM's subcontract much of this work to companies such as CRDM. As the consultancy arm of CRDM, ALMC is therefore ideally positioned to advise such companies on fast-tracking the technology to exploit the full potential of ALM within their business.

World class expertise
CRDM has been building components using ALM since 1994 and is now one of the biggest ALM companies in Europe. It regularly provides complex components for automotive, aerospace, medical and defence companies and is now translating that manufacturing expertise into consultancy programmes for companies such as BAE Systems and Tupperware.

According to CRDM, it was the first UK company to adopt metal laser sintering in 1999 and the technique now forms a core element of its business, providing critical and reportedly unique components for customers in the aerospace, defence, automotive and white goods industries.

CRDM has offered consultancy services since 2002, advising on ALM implementation from initial concept through to volume production.

For information on how ALMC can help your business, contact Graham Bennett on +44 8450 514900 or e-mail graham.bennett@almc.info

Helmet Design Engineered by IDC Speeds Ahead in Safety

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Motorcyclists will soon enjoy a new level of safety following the launch of a next generation helmet, which uses groundbreaking technology developed by a British medic and engineered by award-winning product development expert, Industrial Design Consultancy Ltd. (IDC).

With over 80% of fatal motorcycle accidents due to head trauma, rotational head injury is currently seen as the greatest cause of brain damage or death for motorcyclists involved in road accidents.

The new helmet, aptly named SuperSkin, tackles this directly using a special new technology that mimics nature's own simple design — skull and skin. Vastly superior in design compared with standard helmets, stringent tests show that the SuperSkin product design reduces rotational impact by an unprecedented 50% and the subsequent possibility of brain damage by 67.5%*.

Managing director of IDC, Stephen Knowles, explained, "Traditionally, motorcycle helmets have been rigid in design. We needed to introduce a dynamic element of movement to dramatically reduce the rotational impact that often causes life-threatening injuries. On impact, the outer membrane is able to stretch and slide over the main helmet shell to prevent these dangerous rotational forces being transmitted to the head and brain.

"Without breaking from the standard helmet shell, we developed a product design that was optimised for manufacture and rigorous international testing. The end result has provided a first for the motorcycle industry and a great leap forward in safety."

The product development process brought together IDC's engineers, model makers and designers to develop a skin-like membrane that would slide on the surface of the helmet without breaking on impact. CAD software provided a quick means to transforming the concept into a series of tangible designs. But central to the intensive research and development process was rapid prototyping. Precision CNC machining paved the way for multiple impact absorbing liners for the helmet to be scuplted from a polystyrene block with optimum absorbence performance, allowing the team to test each design change along the way. The membrane was also tested in the same way.

The revolutionary product design required careful selection of materials. A strong synthetic sits on top of the gel-like lubricant to form a protective layer across the surface of the helmet. State-of -the-art vacuum casting was use to create prototypes and the materials tested for resistance and strength. The chosen synthetic stretched up to eight times its original length.

The man behind the SuperSkin helmet, Dr. Ken Phillips of Phillips Helmets Ltd., tasked IDC with turning some fifteen years of research into a workable product design. "Whilst we cannot prevent road accidents altogether, by creating a helmet that replicates a much stronger version of the human skull and skin that protects our brains, we can go a long way to saving innumerable lives," he said.

IDC is currently working with Dr. Phillips to develop other applications of the technology and an equestrian version is currently under test.

The helmet has been brought to market by major helmet manufacturer Lazer Helmets SA the Superskin and is available in Lazer's stylish full-face Solano (£200) or open-face Rider (£150) range.

2010 Dental CAD/CAM Software Release from 3Shape Previewed in Chicago

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

3Shape showcased the launch of its new generation Dental System 2010 at the LMT Lab Day, held 27th February, in Chicago. Due for release later in the year, this industry-pacesetting 2010 version of 3Shape's Dental System solution, which according to the company, adds new, sophisticated indications never before seen in the market, offering unsurpassed production gains for digital dental labs.

Among the many new features is reportedly unique support for those clinical cases requiring both maxillary and mandibular restorative work carried out in one integrated design session.

Henrik Vestermark, Vice-President of Business Development for North America, explained, "We work closely with dental labs and design our systems to optimally support their real-life workflows. Just a single mouse click activates any restorative element for modification. We created this simultaneous modelling functionality to provide a high level of design esthetics and speed for those demanding 'dual-side' cases."

Creating a crown or a bridge without the guidance of dynamic articulation and articulating paper would be thought improbable for most dental technicians. 3Shape recognises their relentless pursuit of the optimal occlusal fit, and its Dental System 2010 now brings labs highly sophisticated dynamic virtual articulation that simulates traditional high-end articulator functionality.

With Dental System 2010, 3Shape says it is introducing the market's fastest virtual design of Removable Partials. The solution's intuitive workflow mimics familiar manual steps, including blocking out of undercuts, retention grid design with automatic resin gap and application of major connector and clasps.

The list of powerful and productive new features in 3Shape's Dental System 2010 seems endless and includes the market's most precise and cost-saving tool for designing sophisticated implant bars and bridges for both removable and fixed prostheses. The solution supports standard and free-form bar shapes and enables virtual addition of attachments, locators and retention holes. 3Shape's solution enables labs to enjoy material savings, while cutting their production time by 60-70%.

"3Shape has consistently brought new versions of Dental System to the market over the past four years with each new version leap-frogging over previous ones — and 3Shape will continue this trend in the future. Our goal is to keep dental lab owners ahead, guaranteeing that their production process stays on the most competitive path," stated Henrik Vestermark, Vice-President of Business Development for North America.

The new Dental System 2010 seems to cement 3Shape's already solid position as a right choice in this rapidly evolving CAD/CAM dental business environment. 3Shape has announced that current and up-to-date licensed users of Dental System will automatically receive the 2010 version when it becomes available later this year.

‘Aero Engineering Exhibition & Congress' and ‘The Composites Engineering Show' to be Hosted by Leading Edge Events

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

B2B Event Organiser ‘Leading Edge Events & Media Ltd' will stage two highly-related events concurrently on 29th-30th September 2010: the ‘Aero Engineering 2010 Exhibition & Congress' — reportedly the UK's only dedicated ‘engineering' event for the UK aerospace community — and ‘The Composites Engineering Show 2010' — a brand new show, servicing the UK's rapidly developing composites design and production engineering community across all applications.

"The response to the co-location in both value chains has been outstanding and we expect a high take up from visitor groups for both shows nationwide," said Event Director Ian Stone, Managing Director of organiser Leading Edge Events & Media.

Aero Engineering 2010 provides a platform tailored to the needs of the UK's aerospace/aviation engineering industries, from specialist aerospace sub-contracting services to advanced machining technology, from test and inspection to modelling and simulation, and much more. "The event fills a vital void in providing a no-nonsense suppliers fair for this demanding, discreet market sector, where buyers and sellers can meet and do business in a focused aero-engineering environment," added Stone.

Building on the success of the inaugural ‘Aero Engineering' (2009) event in Manchester, where some 800+ companies and organisations throughout the UK aerospace engineering supply chain participated, Aero Engineering 2010, in its new ‘central UK' location expects to attract engineering teams from all sides of the UK aerospace industry. A reportedly unique attendance of primes/tier 1 to tiers 2-4 and supporting supply groups, will offer a showcase environment for specialist technologies and service industry supply groups on the show floor.

Importantly, Aero Engineering 2010 will evolve to help visitors quickly identify suppliers, technologies and presentations in their area of interest, using dedicated ‘focus technology trails' that embrace:

Design, modelling, simulation and materials
Machining manufacturing and assembly
Testing and inspection
Avionics/electronics and electrical
Sub-contract/supply chain engineering
Maintenance, repair and overhaul.

Regarding Aero Engineering's parallel Supply Chain Business Briefing, Stone said, "Nowhere else are decision-makers in the UK aerospace engineering supply chain able to hear this level of top tier aerospace programme management presenting opportunities in future aircraft build programmes, collaborative R&D initiatives, export opportunities, industry standards, and more."

Running concurrently on the same show floor, The Composites Engineering Show 2010 reflects the enormous UK-wide demand in composites design and manufacturing, from high volume consumer applications to high performance advanced engineered products. This importance is reflected in the show's support from key stakeholder organisations, including CompositesUK, NetComposites, Knowledge Transfer Network and others

Stone added, "The continuing thirst for information and partnerships for UK companies wishing to work with composites or from those already part of the composites value chain, spurred us to launching the UK's first dedicated showcase for the composites community, mirroring the importance — and growing use — of these advanced materials across all industry sectors, from the obviously synergetic aerospace to motorsport, renewable energy, medical, industrial equipment, automotive and more, and reflecting the Government's recent £22 million endorsement of composites development."

Exhibits and technical presentations at the new Composites Engineering Show will cover all composites types, including fibre reinforced polymers, sandwich and cored structures, fibre metal laminates, metal matrix, ceramic matrix and carbon composites. The event showcases materials manufacturers and suppliers; design, analysis and simulation technologies; processors/processes and production technologies, including machining and tooling; suppliers of composite parts, components and structures; and composites maintenance engineering. The target audience, therefore, is the complete end-to-end design, manufacturing and operational engineering value chain.

Stone concluded, "The combination of multiple advanced engineering groups meeting across the two shows provides infinite opportunities for technology transfer and supply chain networking, and will cement both shows into the UK industry's ‘must attend' calendar."

Visit www.aeroconf.com for details of Aero Engineering 2010 - Exhibition & Congress

Visit www.compositesexhibition.com for details of The Composites Engineering 2010.

Multi Die 3D Scanner from 3Shape Speeds Up Digital Dentistry Processes

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

3Shape has announced the release of its D710 Multi Die 3D scanner that brings remarkable scan, design and production speeds to the digital dentistry market.

"With our new D710 Multi Die scanner, we are introducing a new industry standard for productivity. By giving dental labs a solution for organising their workflows to produce cases in batches, labs can free up time for the scanner operator to accomplish other tasks," said Tais Clausen, CTO and Co-Founder of 3Shape A/S.

The D710 Multi Die is based on 3Shape's user-acclaimed D700 3D scanner platform, with the added breakthrough ability to scan up to six dies in one batch using its robust die-feeder. The scanner automatically moves each die in turn into the centre of the scanner for an obstacle-free camera angle, reportedly ensuring the sharpest focus, complete capture, and optimal precision for each individual scan in the batch. 3Shape supplies 2 Die Plates with the scanner for optimal efficiency.

The D710 Multi Die is built with 3Shape's reportedly unique two-camera and 3-axis motion system which, along with superior adaptive impression scanning, also intelligently detects incomplete areas and automatically re-scans those areas to obtain full coverage.

Additionally, the D710 Multi Die scanner features a vast number of advanced scan indications, covering impression scanning, post and core, 14 unit bridges, articulated antagonist model, deep inlays, pre-preparation model aligned to preparation, model implant position and orientation detection, wax-up customised abutment, and wax-up implant bridges for copy milling.

"The new D710 Multi Die is an addition to our existing D700 line of 3D scanners, and it targets medium-to-large dental labs where efficient production is a must and requires them to group orders into batches for maximum utilisation of resources and time," stated Henrik Vestermark, Vice-President of Business Development for North America.

The D710 Multi Die 3D scanner integrates with 3Shape's Dental System, which also includes the intuitive DentalDesigner CAD modelling software and the DentalManager application for managing and exchanging production files. The first customer shipments are scheduled to begin 1st April, 2010.

EOS to Showcase Laser-Sintering's Game-Changing Orthopaedic Uses at AAOS 2010

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

EOS plastic and metal laser-sintering systems are increasingly being used to create devices, implants, ortheses, prostheses, surgical equipment and instrument prototypes. The systems allow medical designers to tailor-make parts that serve doctors' and patients' individual needs. In addition, laser-sintering enables engineers to create complex geometries such as porous surfaces that encourage osteointegration, and implants with mesh or scaffold structures that are lighter-weight and more comfortable for patients.

Materials available from EOS for orthopaedic applications include polyamides, a high-performance PEEK polymer, stainless steels, cobalt chromes and different titanium grades.

For more information about the AAOS Exhibition, go to http://www.aaos.org/education/anmeet/anmeet.asp.

Affordable Composites Manufacturing TSB Grand Challenge Announced by GTMA

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

GTMA is part of a Consortium of partners in the TSB Grand Challenge competition (Stage 2) Feasibility Study announced on 17th February to develop cost-effective and rapid composite manufacturing techniques for high performance, high value products. The project objective is to develop a smart materials solution for improved tooling for composites manufacture. Tooling is one of the high cost elements in Composites. All parts need a form tool and a machining fixture. By studying the whole process of materials, and cures it should be possible to develop lower cost tooling to reduce the Non Recurring Cost of investment.

The project will deliver a step change in the manufacture of tooling mainly for CFRP composite manufacture, with the aim of creating a UK supply chain which is positioned to supply tooling with reduced lead time, reduced cost, and with optimised thermal capability built in.

Partners:

Lateral Logic Ltd
Gurit UK Ltd
FormTech Composites
C-Tech Innovation Ltd
CRDM Ltd
FibreStone Ltd
Bodycote K-Tech
GTMA
Azdel

For more information, please contact Julia Moore GTMA on +44 1844 274222.

Upcoming RE Software Release from Inus Makes Creating CAD Models from 3D Easier and Faster

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

INUS Technology, Inc. (www.rapidform.com) has announced that the next major release of its flagship reverse engineering (RE) software, Rapidform XOR, will be available in April, 2010. Rapidform XOR is reportedly the only software that combines 3D scan data processing and real parametric solid modelling to give users the ability to create intelligent CAD models from point clouds and polygon meshes. It is also the only application that sends these CAD models to SolidWorks, Pro/ENGINEER, Siemens NX, and now AutoCAD.

Rapidform XOR3 makes the process of creating engineering-grade CAD models of real world objects easier than ever. Unlike other RE software, XOR makes real CAD features with parent-child relationships, not just surfaces that can be exchanged with CAD software. 3D models created in XOR are higher quality, easier to transfer into CAD and more easily edited than surface-based models. With this new release, XOR offers more than 350 upgrades to save time and increase throughput.

New features coming in Rapidform XOR3 include:

Modelling wizards that automate the process of creating various features, including extrusions, revolutions, sweeps and pipes. These wizards compress modelling time by up to 75%.
Streamlined liveTransfer, XOR's exceptional CAD interoperability technology. XOR3 communicates faster and transfers more than 20 reportedly unique feature types into SolidWorks, Pro/E and Siemens NX.
Native interoperability with AutoCAD. XOR3 adds liveTransfer for AutoCAD, so architecture, engineering and construction professionals can now create models in XOR and transfer sketches, pipes, lofts, sweeps and more directly into AutoCAD.
A new massive point cloud processing engine. XOR3 handles large point clouds much more efficiently, so copious data sets from today's cutting-edge 3D scanners are no problem.
WYSIWYG batch process designer. Simply drag and drop commands in the required operation order, then point XOR3 at a folder of scan data and it will process each scan automatically, giving optimised mesh models without any effort.

For all the latest updates, go to the Rapidform XOR3 preview site http://launch.rapidformxor.com.

Software Solution for Metal AM Build Support Generation Announced by Materialise

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Materialise has released Magics Metal SG — a software solution specifically developed for metal additive manufacturing (AM) build support generation.

Magics Metal SG provides metal AM professionals with a comprehensive build support generation toolbox. This enables build supports to be fully customised and optimised for almost any part geometry.

Magics Metal SG contains two new styles of robust build support structures and a range of build support editing tools, all developed specifically for metal AM.

"The goal of Magics Metal SG is to increase metal AM build reliability and part quality, while decreasing material costs and part finishing times. Magics Metal SG achieves this by providing metal AM professionals with the tools through which they can apply their expertise, in order to create optimal customised build support structures", remarked Nico Foqu� Manager of Materialise's RP&M department.