Aibuild FETS for Additive Manufacturing Launches

Aibuild FETS, which is GPU powered and validated by U.S. aerospace body NIAR delivers thermal, thermomechanical, distortion and stress simulation to any CAM software.

Aibuild, a manufacturing software company, has launched Aibuild FETS, a finite element thermomechanical simulation tool that runs fast.

Aibuild FETS supports the breadth of additive manufacturing processes including directed energy deposition (DED), wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), friction stir additive manufacturing (AFSD), functionally graded manufacturing (FGM), and fused filament fabrication (FFF), covering metals and thermoplastics.

It delivers simulation across six key output types during the AM build process: thermal distribution, thermomechanical, distortion, residual stress, interlayer bonding analysis, including poor adhesion plus sagging/slumping, and crack prediction from simulated stress.

For engineering teams, this is simulation that required hours or even days of computation and demanded specialist computers and dedicated workflows that can return accurate results in less time. Engineers can identify thermal risk, predict distortion, understand residual stress distribution, and optimise through rapid iteration, all before a single layer is deposited.

"A failed build is often thousands of dollars in material, machine time and energy, and hours of someone's time you can't get back. Aibuild FETS came out of wanting to fix that. It's not just process parameters either, it's the whole thing. The path the tool takes, the thermal behaviour, the entire build strategy. Engineers can now just know whether a part will print successfully, in seconds, before any of that money is on the line," says Guy Brown, CSO at Aibuild.

GPU powered and validated by the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), one of the U.S. aerospace industry's independent testing and validation bodies, Aibuild FETS carries the accuracy credentials to match its speed claims. Results are consistent with industry-validated finite element simulation.

"As a research institute serving the aerospace industry, NIAR's mission is to validate and de-risk advanced manufacturing technologies before they reach production floors. Thermal control has been one of the biggest challenges holding back metal additive at industrial scale. This foundation means we're well positioned to benefit from upcoming AI enhancements that Aibuild is developing. For the aerospace manufacturers we work with, this represents a validated path forward: they can adopt large-format metal AM with the thermal process control they need, and the platform will keep getting faster as AI capabilities come online," says Jeswin J. Chankaramangalam, program director, NIAR.

Aibuild FETS is GPU powered, CAM agnostic and requires no specialist hardware, allowing it to integrate directly into existing workflows across a wide range of manufacturing environments. Easy calibration means teams are up and running quickly, without lengthy onboarding or specialist training.

Aibuild FETS is available now. Any one who adopts before the end of May 2026 will receive an exclusive offer. https://ai-build.com/cam/thermomechanical/

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.