Materialise, a global leader in 3D printing software and service solutions, has collaborated with both Phase3D, a Chicago-based startup creating real-time inspection technology for powder-based AM, and Sigma Additive Solutions, a software company providing in-process AM quality assurance software. The companies’ collaboration is focused on providing process monitoring for metal 3D printing, through Materialise Process Control – a newly released software solution that enables manufacturers to introduce quality control using data gathered during the 3D printing process. Materialise has also introduced its Build Processor Software Development Kit (BP SDK) – a platform connecting 3D printers with software for data preparation, such as Materialise Magics.
Materialise Process Control
Materialise Process Control enables users to identify defective parts before they are sent to post-processing and quality inspection. It provides access to technology-agnostic process monitoring for metal AM and makes it possible to combine data from different monitoring systems.
Materialise collaborated with Phase3D and Sigma Additive Solutions to integrate complementary data and to provide deep insights into the 3D printing process. Phase3D technology, particularly Project Fringe, adds height mapping, a form of topographic layer data, and Sigma Additive Solutions provides thermal data from the melt pool, the area of the melted material during the metal 3D printing process.
Phase3D’s Project Fringe is a proprietary structured light technology that measures any powder-based AM process. The real-time data creates detailed measurements for where and when a print anomaly occurs. Project Fringe presents data in 3D – enabling users to see a multitude of print anomalies in real time. The solution allows customers to be confident about their part quality, or stop the 3D printing process if a defect has been detected – saving machine time and money.
“We are excited to offer Project Fringe, our flagship hardware/software inspection technology, to Materialise customers through this collaboration. Real time inspection using rapid height measurement technology can reduce the cost per part in 3D printing,” said Niall O’Dowd, Founder, and CEO of Phase3D.
Manufacturing on Demand
“Materialise Process Control uses artificial intelligence to automate quality control, helping our customers save significant time and money,” said Bart Van der Schueren, CTO of Materialise. “Through collaborations with partners like Phase3D 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 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.
Materialise’s Build Processor Software Development Kit (BP SDK)
A Build Processor (BP) connects 3D printers with software for data preparation, such as Materialise Magics. It manages 3D printer-specific information and enables users to influence build parameters, which influence how fast a 3D print job is completed, and determine part properties such as density and surface quality. Sub-optimal build parameters increase the cost per part by causing long build jobs, high efforts during post-processing, and high scrap rates.
“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,” said Karel Brans, Senior Director of Partnerships at Materialise. “They are looking for ways to improve the machine utilization 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.”
The BP SDK offers an agile way to adapt BPs to 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 BP technology, they can shorten the product development cycle, integrate their own APIs, and generate new intellectual property. This open development process supports collaboration and can drive the diversification and optimization of BPs.
The BP SDK offers AM users the opportunity to deploy BPs tailored to their needs. A tailored BP applies print parameters hitting the ‘sweet spot’ of cost-efficiency and part quality for an AM application. It allows users to manufacture complex parts and mass-produce identical or customized products with consistent quality, a decreased scrap rate, and shortened lead times. Optimizing the 3D printing process will help 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.
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Author: Edward Wakefield
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