Design for Additive
Manufacturing
Rutuja Samant
Project Engineer, Additive Manufacturing
716.710.5541
Design for Manufacturability
vs
Design for manufacturability is the process for designing parts in order
to minimize the “complexity” of manufacturing operations.
Design for Additive Manufacturing is the process for designing parts
in order to manufacture “complex” geometries taking advantage of the
manufacturing processes.
Part light-
weighting
Part
consolidation Functionally graded
parts
Customized
Parts
Part Lightweighting
Topology Optimization: A computational material-
distribution method for finding structures without any preconceived
shape satisfying defined boundary conditions.
Broad Categorization:
─ Morphology-based topology
optimization
─ Lattice structure generation
─ Parametric optimization
Part Consolidation
Original Part Sheet Metal fabrication with 7
piece assembly
Redesigned Part Manufactured Part
IN718 Transition Duct manufactured using Electron Beam Powder Bed
Fusion Process
Designing consolidated parts eliminates the need for large multi-component
assemblies which leads to faster overall turn-around times by eliminating individual
part lead times as well as their logistics and assembly costs.
Mechanical Metamaterial
Mechanical properties are defined by their structure rather than their composition.
Applications: ─ Lightweighting
─ Frequency Tuning
─ Thermal Control
─ Tailorable Material Properties
─ Shock Absorption
─ Directional Wave Control
─ Surface Area Density
─ Property Ratios
Auxetic Hierarchical
Graded
Negative Stiffness
Triply Periodic Minimal
Surfaces
*Source : Titan Industries .
Part Selection
Not every part manufactured using traditional
manufacturing techniques can be additively
manufactured
Important factors to identify AM friendly parts:
─ Material, complexity, size, assembly, tolerances, cost , tooling, time
Important questions to ask:
─ Do current manufacturing constraints limit part performance?
─ Can sub-components be merged to avoid assembly?
─ Can number of joints be minimized?
─ Can we save weight and material while achieving the same function?
─ Do we need extensive tooling to manufacturing part?
Effect of AM Process on Design
Considerations
Every AM process has its own unique features that have to be considered when designing a part ─ Available materials
─ Possible feature size
─ Support structure requirement
─ Surface tolerance requirement
─ Post processing efforts
Laser DED Electron Beam Powder
Bed
Ele
ctr
on
Be
am
Po
wd
er
Be
d
La
se
r P
ow
de
r B
ed
Support requirement in Laser-PBF is different from Electron
Beam-PBF which leads to varying post-processing efforts
Laser DED process cannot build overhanging
surfaces, thus the part had to stretched to
demonstrate the design considerations required
CAD
Modeler
Commercial Tools to Design for AM
Every aspect of the AM design cycle requires a different software solution.
Design
Optimization
Geometry
Repair
Build File
Preparation
Case Study: Topology Optimization
of a Mounting Bracket
Candidate part
5000N
Topology Optimization Part Redesign
/
Part Analysis
Case Study: Topology Optimization
of a Mounting Bracket
Geometry Repair Build File Preparation
Printed in Ti6Al4V on Arcam A2X
Case Study: Topology Optimization
of a Mounting Bracket
Current State of AM Design
Industry
Research
Institutes &
Universities
CAD
Software
Companies
AM
Designer
Early version of design
packages are released
Commercial software
concentrates only on
static structural topology
optimization
Extensive amount of
manual redesign
required
Commercial software do
not focus on AM process
parameters
Multi-material
optimization
Metamaterials
Multi-physics
optimization
Integrating AM design
rules with topology
optimization
Functionally graded parts
Questions
13
Rutuja Samant
Project Engineer, Additive Manufacturing