In our last issue, Candice Majewski shared her top tips for how to choose the right parts for additive manufacturing (AM). Think of this latest ‘How to’ as a bit of a part two, as our TCT Expert Advisors weigh in on what to do next to get the most out of those additive opportunities. With contributions from Steve Cox, AMFORi Consulting; Melissa Orme, The Boeing Company; and Carl Dekker, Met-L-Flo.
Part consolidation needs a mind-leap
We are so conditioned to think of assemblies as made up from separately made parts that it can be difficult to make that re-evaluation of a design as a print-in-place assembly. There’s the added aspect too, even having recognised the opportunity, that several iterations and test parts may be needed to get to the required end result. That extra effort - and cost - may or may not be worth it and you also have to balance the fact that a consolidated design may not be as serviceable/repairable at the same lower levels as a conventional assembly might be.
