Markforged series c funding
Markforged and MSC Software Corporation have announced a partnership which will see the latter’s process simulation, performance modelling and material analysis tools aligned with the former’s 3D printing platforms.
While Markforged users can already implement material analysis for the continuous carbon fibre and Onyx materials, they will now benefit from MSC’s Finite Element Analysis (FEA) capabilities.
As a result of the partnership, users can access digital material cards that capture the mechanical and material properties of fibre-filled parts. They will also be able to establish print calibration standards, ensure each machine is optimised for the part, and, with the FEA capabilities, run simulations on proposed designs to predict the mechanical and structural performance of the parts.
The alignment with MSC has been sought to meet growing demand from Markforged customers to provide pre-validation capabilities. Danfoss, among that Markforged customer base, is harnessing additive manufacturing to produce brackets to lift cast housings in an assembly process. Because of the suspended loads and the proximity of workers, Danfoss is required to carry out validation at the design phase to ensure safe working conditions for employees. Thanks to the MSC and Markforged partnership, the simulation workflow has been validated, with failure areas identified and addressed, and results show a significant safety margin that validates Danfoss’ lifting bracket to be deployed in its factories.
“We’ve been using Markforged metal and carbon fibre printers for more than a year now and they’re invaluable. We invested mostly with tooling in mind and it’s simplified and optimised our supply chain process for replacing fixtures at a much lower cost than machining,” said Jeff Herrin, Vice President Research & Development, Danfoss Power Solutions. “But we wanted to identify more applications for 3D printing and validate the performance of our parts before they’re printed. The company’s partnership with MSC will not only demonstrate that their composite parts can replace metal, but also help identify a part’s top potential. Simulating the ideal weight, ideal cost savings, and ideal lead times with MSC will help us reduce our time and material usage so we can just print and deploy.”
“Markforged is a pioneer in the 3D printing space, and its continuous carbon fibre material is so strong, it’s replacing aluminium in factories across the globe,” offered Olivier Lietaer, Business Development Engineer for Additive Manufacturing at e-Xstream Engineering, part of MSC. “This shift in design and manufacturing requires now analysis capabilities that can validate customer designs with the same confidence as traditionally manufactured parts. Because it applies data specific to printing conditions, Digimat gives customers 100% confidence that their part designs can be 3D printed, making additive manufacturing accessible to applications that require rigorous testing.”
“We’re thrilled to work with a leading provider of composite modelling and simulation software to provide this service to our customers. MSC’s best-in-class composites FEA will be critical in helping our customers identify the right design for their carbon fibre parts,” added Jon Reilly, VP of Product, Markforged.
