Solukon has announced the release of new version of its SPR-Pathfinder PRO in response to what the additive manufacturing post-processing specialist describes as 'growing complexity of industrial AM components'.
SPR-Pathfinder PRO is an intelligent depowdering software for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) parts. This latest edition is said to provide significantly higher simulation resolution, accurate process-time prediction, and enhanced design-stage depowdering validation.
Andreas Hartmann, CEO and CTO said, "The parts our customers print today are more complex than ever and we have grown alongside that ambition. SPR-Pathfinder PRO reflects years of listening to the market and advancing our software in step with the most demanding AM applications: parts with sub-millimeter channels, densely packed internal surfaces, and geometries previously inaccessible."
Post-processing steps, such as depowdering, often make up the bulk of the cost of a 3D printed part. The more complex a part, the more difficult it can be to remove excess powder. Solukon says some of the parts being made today have exceeded the ceiling of its standard SPR-Pathfinder version.
Those complex parts require a very large simulation resolution to guarantee automated depowdering accuracy. SPR-Pathfinder PRO has removed the previous limit of 2.4 million voxels. The software also provides full process transparency of the part's journey. Its Digital-Factory-Tool records all relevant depowdering process data, with the option to integrate this information into a higher-level digital dashboard via OPC UA. Solukon says the software has been designed to take the notion of 'design for additive manufacturing' and think instead in terms of 'design for depowdering' by taking this post-printing step into consideration from the earliest design stage and adjusting geometry accordingly.
New features in SPR-Pathfinder PRO include:
- Support for up to 1,000,000 particles, combined with an unlimited number of voxels. This makes it possible to accurately compute sub-millimetre channels and densely packed internal surfaces that were previously inaccessible to simulation. In the simulation by SPR-Pathfinder PRO, the part moves in the same way it will later during the corresponding cleaning step in the Solukon machine.
- Cross-sectional views of the component in all planes (X, Y, and Z), and part transparency can be granularly adjusted to identify powder traps and bottlenecks before a single layer is printed.
- SPR-Pathfinder PRO now allows users to specify exactly how long the calculation and depowdering process will take in their Solukon system.
The software is compatible with Solukon's SFM-AT350, SFM-AT350-E, SFM-AT800-S, SFM-AT1000-S and SFM-AT1500-S depowdering systems. Current machine owners can try the software with no obligation as part of a free 30-day license. In addition, Solukon is now offering SPR-Pathfinder in a more affordable version called SPR-Pathfinder BASIC for parts with medium complexity needs.
Laura Griffiths
