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Wohlers Associates Partners with Materialise on Design for AM Course

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By Admin  

April 20, 2017

Wohlers Associates, Inc. will offer a three-day course on design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). It is being held in collaboration with Materialise. The course is May 31–June 2, 2017 at the Materialise headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. Wohlers Associates has twice offered a similar course for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Pictured here is a hydraulic manifold for an Airbus A380 spoiler, a wing device that slows or causes an airplane to descend. The version on the left is a conventionally-machined manifold. The one on the right was redesigned using methods of DfAM and produced by additive manufacturing. It flew on the A380 in March 2017. The AM version reduced weight by 55%—a significant benefit in aircraft manufacturing. Pictured here is a hydraulic manifold for an Airbus A380 spoiler, a wing device that slows or causes an airplane to descend. The version on the left is a conventionally machined manifold. The one on the right was redesigned using methods of DfAM and produced by additive manufacturing. It flew on the A380 in March 2017. The AM version reduced weight by 55%.
“Designers, engineers, and managers wanting to learn how to design products for AM will benefit from more than 55 years of combined company experience at Materialise and Wohlers Associates,” says  Terry Wohlers, principal consultant and president of Wohlers Associates.
The course will provide expert instruction on methods of DfAM, such as the consolidation of many parts into a fewer number . This can result in  savings in manufacturing processes, part numbers, assembly, labor, inventory, and certification paperwork, Wohlers Associates reports. The course will also include topology optimization, which is a technique of letting mathematics decide where to place material to optimize the strength-to-weight ratio. It can produce organic and “bionic” structures that reduce material and weight by up to 60%, while preserving strength.
Participants can gain hands-on experience by designing parts using CAD and special software tools for additive manufacturing, the company notes. Some of the designs will be built on industrial AM equipment at Materialise so that attendees can evaluate the results. 3D scanning for custom product development will be included as an exercise.
Associate consultant Olaf Diegel, Ph.D., will serve as the lead instructor. He has a combination of experience with conventional design and manufacturing and DfAM. “Olaf has created more than 80 commercial products and is an engaging instructor, making him ideal for the course,” Wohlers stated.
For details on the course, click here. For more information, visit Wohlers Associates, Inc. and Materialise.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.

 

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