Materialise
Materialise has announced the launch of its Process Control software for metal 3D printing, as well as its Build Processor Software Development (BP SDK) at the AMUG Conference.
The company suggests that the new products will help additive manufacturing users to address failed builds and hidden defects, while also developing tailored parameters for their applications.
With Process Control, Materialise says manufacturers will be able to analyse and correlate layer data gathered during the 3D printing process to identify defective parts before they are sent to post-processing and quality inspection, and therefore take steps to reduce manufacturing costs. By analysing layer data, users should be able to find the root cause of defects faster, while reducing both scrap rates and expensive quality control efforts during post-processing.
This analysis of layer data is automated using artificial intelligence to examine 2D images of the powder bed taken during the 3D printing process. Materialise has collaborated with Phase 3D and Sigma Additive Solutions, Inc. to integrate complementary data and to provide 'deep insights' into the 3D printing process. Phase 3D's technology adds height mapping, a form of topographic layer data, while Sigma Additive Solutions provides thermal data from the melt pool, the area of the melted material during the metal 3D printing process.
“Materialise Process Control uses artificial intelligence to automate quality control, helping our customers save significant time and money,” commented Bart Van der Schueren, CTO of Materialise. “Through collaborations with partners like Phase 3D and Sigma Additive Solutions, AM users benefit from a technology-agnostic innovation that offers unparalleled insights into their 3D printing process for continuous improvement.”
Materialise Process Control is being made available as part of CO-AM, Materialise’s end-to-end software platform for 3D printing, and as a standalone software solution. As an open software solution, partners will be able to add their software and monitoring technology.
Meanwhile, Materialise's BP SDK offering has been designed to offer an agile way to create or adapt build processors for specific applications. Machine vendors and manufacturing companies with R&D capacities can use the development platform as a toolkit on their own, rely on Materialise’s AM expertise or choose a collaborative approach. Using proven build processor technology, they can shorten the product development cycle, integrate their own APIs, and generate new intellectual property. This open development process, according to Materialise, supports collaboration and can drive the diversification and optimisation of build processors.
Materialise says that by deploying tailored build processors, print parameters will hit the 'sweet spot of cost-efficiency and part quality' for an AM application. Per the company, it allows users to manufacture complex parts and mass-produce identical or customised products with consistent quality, decreased scrap rate, and shortened lead times. This should then allow users to 'make more AM use cases sustainable and drive industrial adoption of the technology.'
Build processors co-developed with the BP SDK provide full connectivity to CO-AM and Materialise Magics.
“More and more AM users want to scale up their activities and serve the demand of quality end-part manufacturing. Very often the standard build parameters of a 3D printer don’t match their needs,” offered Karel Brans, Senior Director Partnerships at Materialise. “They are looking for ways to improve the machine utilisation rate and achieve consistent quality. With a BP developed for a specific use case, you can push productivity and quality to a whole new level.”
