{"id":190819,"date":"2022-05-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facfox.com\/news\/a-new-paradigm-for-composite-additive-manufacturing-materials\/"},"modified":"2022-07-19T07:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T07:07:55","slug":"a-new-paradigm-for-composite-additive-manufacturing-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facfox.com\/news\/a-new-paradigm-for-composite-additive-manufacturing-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Paradigm for Composite Additive Manufacturing Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anisoprint is a company operating at the forefront of composite materials and additive manufacturing. Founded in 2015, the company has brought to market a series of turnkey solutions for continuous fiber 3D printing<\/a> for the production of industrial end-use part<\/a>s. These solutions, along with Anisoprint\u2019s in-depth material and engineering expertise, are unlocking new opportunities for higher performing and more efficient part<\/a>s with anisotropic properties.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the hardware is only part<\/a> of the equation. Like any additive manufacturing technology, Anisoprint\u2019s composite 3D printing<\/a> solutions consist of many products, like materials and, crucially, software. From part<\/a> design, optimization and simulation to slicing and printing, software unveils the potential of continuous fiber 3D printing<\/a>. In recognition of this, Anisoprint and UK-based simulation software company Additive Flow have come up with a solution that combines Formflow, Additive Flow\u2019s integrated optimization tool with Anisoprint\u2019s Aura slicer.<\/span><\/p>\n

To better understand what benefits the combined software solution brings to users, we spoke to Anisoprint CEO Fedor Antonov and Additive Flow CEO Alexander Pluke. What follows is a highly insightful conversation that not only illustrates the complexity of modeling for advanced composite materials but also introduces a new framework for reliable and reasonable design for additive manufacturing (DfAM).<\/span><\/p>\n

Building the foundation for composite DfAM<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201c20 years ago, 3D printing<\/a> was mostly used for prototyping, so there was no demand or need for DfAM,\u201d Antonov begins by explaining. \u201cNow that 3D printing<\/a> has evolved for the production of end-use part<\/a>s, design is critical as the possibilities of AM are only revealed with the right design approach. And every technology requires a certain design approach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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From another perspective, 3D printing<\/a> and advanced CAD tools can be seen as having existed in parallel. (The former limited by its use as a prototyping technology and the latter held back by the difficulty of translating its complex designs to existing manufacturing methods.) Today, the two sides are coming together, with 3D printing<\/a> positioned as the most viable way to produce complex, optimized geometries. \u201cNow the machine and manufacturer and designers speak the same digital language,\u201d Antonov adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

With more traditional 3D printing<\/a> materials, like polymers and metals, design for AM is complex but fairly straightforward since geometries are generated based on the materials\u2019 isotropic properties. Composite anisotropic materials, however, bring with them greater complexity and greater optimization potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about composites, we are talking about anisotropic materials,\u201d Antonov continues. \u201cThis is another level of both complexity and freedom of design. Metals and polymers have just a few property values which describe their behavior; for anisotropic materials, there are many more parameters that describe the material\u2019s behavior in all directions. In other words, when we do generative design for isotropic materials, we are only talking about geometry and shape optimization. With anisotropic materials, we are also talking about material directionality. That\u2019s another optimization space that will allow for superior results compared to isotropic materials. This is the biggest benefit of composites.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In practice, composite additive manufacturing relies on the ability to not only set part<\/a> geometries and internal structures like lattices but also to control local fiber alignment within the part<\/a>. This capability enables manufacturers to produce high-performance part<\/a>s that are optimized for their specific loading conditions and stress fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Optimizing material properties efficiently<\/span><\/h2>\n

In order to achieve this level of control for composite 3D printed materials, however, we need the software tools to back it up. \u201cWe need an optimization tool that can create optimal structures with anisotropic composite materials by actually optimizing the geometry and the fiber direction at every point,\u201d Antonov says. \u201cIt is possible, but nobody has ever done it to the full extent because not only is it difficult in terms of design but also extremely challenging in terms of translating the design to machine language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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3D printed aircraft seat support, optimized by Additive Flow and produced by Anisoprint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHow do you go from a 3D model with all this directionality of materials to the actual tool path of the machine? This is a very complex problem which hasn\u2019t been solved so far. But there is a very elegant solution that we\u2019ve developed together with Additive Flow and which we are now implementing through the joint workflow of Formflow and Aura.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Specifically, the two companies have overcome the complex problem of controlling the directionality of fibers at every point by simplifying the process. \u201cInstead of optimizing material directionality at <\/span>every<\/span><\/i> point\u2014what we call continuously\u2014you can optimize materials discretely,\u201d he says. \u201cNot in every point, but in every domain or subdomain. So you have your design space where your 3D model sits and within this space you can have different domains with different material properties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if you have a beam structure that will work in bending, the optimal design will have a sparse structure in the middle and two stiff part<\/a>s on the top and bottom, like a sandwich. These will be the different domains with different material properties,\u201d Antonov adds. Additive Flow\u2019s Formflow software therefore enables the automated generation of anisotropic models, which can then be sliced in Aura and 3D printed using Anisoprint\u2019s 3D printers. Aura, for its part<\/a>, translates the variable directionality of the composite materials into a toolpath using its unique mask function.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are three overarching interactions between Formflow and Aura:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

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