Editor's Pick: Autodesk Netfabb 2019 Released

Dear DE Reader:

Additive manufacturing has become a vital process in every design through end-use part manufacturing stage, which is the der-brainiest lead you'll read today. But the smart thing is getting more than just 3D parts. You could be optimizing 3D parts for their intended use and maximizing your additive manufacturing (AM) equipment. Toss in achieving requirement goals like lightweighting, too.

Netfabb 2019, today's Editor's Pick of the Week, is intended to help you do such things. More actually. See, Netfabb is a comprehensive suite of professional-level AM design, simulation and optimization tools. (You don't have to gear up with the full suite, but can as you grow.) And “comprehensive” means what?

Netfabb starts with a Standard edition. It has the import and prepping tools you need. It accepts STL, 3MF and most CAD file formats. You can automate analysis and repair. To get a feel for Netfabb, there's a link in today's write-up where you can download and try the Standard edition for free. Recommended.

The sweet spot for many is the Premium edition. It has things like advanced build supports, complex lattice structures and functionality for preparing parts for post-processing. Ultimate, the full enchilada, offers scripting, toolpaths, extended lattice tools and both cloud-based and limited local simulation. It also includes a subscription to Fusion 360, which brings generative design technology into the equation.

For Premium-level subscribers, Netfabb 2019 makes available pay-per-use Netfabb Simulation for cloud-based, multi-scale, metal powder bed process simulations. This means you can simulate large, involved parts and the complex thermal and mechanical interaction between parts during the metal AM build process. Premium subscribers also have some new latticing tools to work with.

Netfabb's 2019 new My Machines workspace sounds handy. Netfabb already supports 100 machines for any AM process imaginable. My Machines helps streamline workflows by giving you the ability to define one or every AM machine you access. You can categorize machines by function, for example.

Rethinking the process might be the phrase to describe Netfabb. You know AM can make designs that can't be made any other way. But that sort of potential comes with its own set of problems requiring new ways of thinking about the design and manufacturing process. That's what Netfabb could help you do.

Learn more about Netfabb 2019 in today's write-up. Go to its landing page and check out the videos of key features. And download that trial. Good stuff.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood, Editor at Large, DE