Additive Manufacturing—A New Way Forward

Over the past several years, additive manufacturing (AM) has undergone a significant evolution. Previously, AM was primarily used to create prototypes, tooling or “one-off” replacement parts without much thought to the reliability or durability of the parts. 

That is rapidly changing as the industry moves more toward the creation of structurally critical printed parts. Major manufacturers in aerospace, automotive and other industries are creating end-use printed parts for a wide variety of applications. A key question, though, is how to best ensure that those parts are certified to meet or exceed the reliability of their conventionally-manufactured older/obsolete legacy parts?

In this environment, computational modeling of AM fatigue performance is critical, and VEXTEC’s VPS-MICRO® software can help meet this challenge. For manufacturers to successfully deploy AM for production parts, they need an accurate picture of the reliability and repeatability of printing those parts. Fatigue analysis is a must when certifying that these parts can match the performance of traditionally manufactured parts.

Key end users of the technology recognize the importance of this type of modeling. For example, VEXTEC is working with the U.S. Air Force to develop AM qualification and certification methods with VPS-MICRO as a core element.

Check out the recently revamped VEXTEC website for more information.