EOS interview P26 Future of CAD P42 Inside Oqton P52

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HIGH FLYERSHill Helicopters on designing a luxury

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 WELCOME
EDITORIAL
Editor
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Managing Editor
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T
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Design/Production
he summer holiday months are upon us and for some of us
Greg Corke
greg@x3dmedia.com this might require a flight to foreign climes for a period of
+44 (0)20 3355 7312 relaxation, adventure or meeting up with family.
So, while you might be panicking about dropping off your
ADVERTISING luggage into Heathrow’s never-to-return abyss, perhaps
this issue will reassure you about the incredible advances
Group Media Director happening in the world of aerospace.
Tony Baksh
tony@x3dmedia.com Claudia has spoken to Hill Helicopters about the company’s
+44 (0)20 3355 7313 plans to reenergise the rotorcraft industry with a helicopter
design that keeps the experience of the pilot/owner firmly in mind. An efficient
Deputy Advertising Manager new engine design, meanwhile, sees the industry moving in the right direction in
Steve King terms of emissions.
steve@x3dmedia.com
+44 (0)20 3355 7314 For those of us sitting back in cattle class, where are only options are chicken or
pasta, we speak to Pexco about a new product, AirShield, that can be retrofitted
US Sales Director to the air vents on existing passenger plans to provide greater protection against
Denise Greaves airborne viruses.
denise@x3dmedia.com
+1 857 400 7713 We also look at the future of seriously longhaul travel, with plenty of space-
based content in this issue. For example, we speak to Launcher and Aerojet
Rocketdyne about some ongoing projects, with both firms demonstrating how
SUBSCRIPTIONS lightweighting, materials and additive manufacturing technologies will support
Circulation Manager missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Alan Cleveland 3D printing is now embedded in the space industry, so we speak to EOS about
alan@x3dmedia.com
how executives at the company view the near future for its metals and polymer
+44 (0)20 3355 7311
` technologies, and what vendors are doing to aid the qualification process of parts.
We also cover developments in design, using software like Hyperganic.
ACCOUNTS Back on the ground, we have features on innovative drill designs from Guhring,
Accounts Manager and ask a host of exciting designers for their views on the evolving world of
Charlotte Taibi jewellery design and manufacturing.
charlotte@x3dmedia.com So sit back, relax, stow your tray tables and enjoy the ride – regardless of how
Financial Controller far you’re travelling.
Samantha Todescato-Rutland
sam@chalfen.com

ABOUT
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 CONTENTS

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 ISSUE NO. 135

8 NEWS
Lenovo expands portfolio of AMD-powered
workstations, HP Anywhere emerges from beta, 3D
Systems acquires rotating build platform and more

FEATURES
12 Comment: SJ on the satisfaction of building the unbuildable
15 Comment: Alexander Pluke puts family at the heart of AM
16 Visual Design Guide: Commonwealth Games 2022 medals
20 COVER STORY Hill Helicopters aims for new heights
26 Interview: Vinu Vijayan of EOS talks aerospace
28 Rocket science: Launcher’s bold mission to explore additive
33 Lunar return: Reengineering space kit for new adventures
34 Breathe easy: Introducing the Pexco Airshield
38 Shock waves: Laurence Marks on calculating frequencies
42 Talking heads: CAD experts discuss the technology’s future
46 All that glitters: A new era of jewellery design
52 Q&A: Oqton CEO Ben Schrauwen on life at 3D Systems
54 Cut to fit: Guhring uses 3D printing to build CNC tooling

58 THE LAST WORD

Lightweighting may be massively overhyped today, writes
Stephen Holmes, but the impact it looks set to have in
future is truly exciting

2022
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 www.ptc.com/hill-helicopters

Untitled-1.indd 1 22/07/22 11:08 PM

 NEWS
NEWS
LENOVO SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDS PORTFOLIO
OF AMD-POWERED WORKSTATIONS
» AMD continues to make big strides in workstations as Lenovo launches
new mobile and desktop options powered by AMD Ryzen Pro processors
L
enovo has launched three
new workstations powered by
AMD Ryzen Pro processors:
the mobile ThinkPad P14s Gen
3 and ThinkPad P15v Gen 3,
and the desktop ThinkStation P358.
This takes to five the total number of
AMD-based Lenovo workstations, and
makes the global IT firm stand out further
from the competition (HP, Dell and Fujitsu),
where workstation portfolios continue to be
dominated by Intel.
THINKPAD P14S GEN 3
The ThinkPad P14s Gen 3 is billed as Lenovo’s
most mobile workstation and is built around
a thin and light 14-inch chassis. It is powered
by AMD Ryzen Pro 6000 H-series processors
(up to 8 cores and up to 4.7GHz), which also
come with integrated AMD RDNA 2 graphics
and AMD Radeon Pro graphics drivers.
This contrasts with most other mobile
workstations which have discrete GPUs with
their own power and cooling requirements.
As the Thermal Design Power (TDP)
of the top-end AMD Ryzen Pro 6000
processors only goes up to 45W, we expect
the ThinkPad P14s will benefit from reduced
energy consumption in some workflows.
With integrated graphics, up to 32GB
8 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p08_09_D3D_AUGSEPT22_NEWS.indd 8
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT NEWS
6,400MHz LPDDR5 memory and up to 2TB
PCIe Gen4 NVMe storage, the ThinkPad
P14s looks best suited to mainstream users
of CAD and BIM software. It starts at 1.28kg.
The ThinkPad P14s follows on from the
ThinkPad P14s (Intel edition) and ThinkPad
P16s (AMD and Intel editions), which
launched earlier this year. The AMD edition
of the ThinkPad P16s offers the same feature
functionality as the ThinkPad P14s, but in a
16-inch chassis that starts at 1.68kg.
THINKPAD P15V GEN 3
The ThinkPad P15v Gen 3 features the
same choice of AMD Ryzen Pro 6000
H-series processors, but comes with
higher performance graphics. The discrete
Nvidia RTX A2000 GPU should make the
15.6-inch laptop suitable for entry-level
viz workflows as well as CAD and BIM. It
also has more storage and memory than
the ThinkPad P14s (64GB DDR5 4800MHz
memory and 4TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe
SSD) and starts at 2.26kg.
LENOVO THINKSTATION P358
The ThinkStation P358 is Lenovo’s first
desktop workstation to feature the AMD
Ryzen Pro desktop processor with up to 12
cores and up to 4.7GHz. It complements
Lenovo’s other AMD-based desktop The ThinkStation
workstation, the ThinkStation P620, P358, the first Lenovo
workstation to
which features AMD Ryzen Threadripper feature AMD Ryzen
Pro processors with up to 64 cores and Pro processors, looks
up to 4.5GHz. set to go head-to-
With the ThinkStation P620 best-suited to head with the 12th
Gen Intel Core-based
more demanding multi-threaded workflows, ThinkStation P360
this leaves the ThinkStation P358 to handle
workflows where frequency is the priority,
such as CAD and BIM. It will rival 12th Gen
Intel Core-based workstations, such as the
ThinkStation P360.
In terms of pro graphics, Lenovo has
seemingly limited options to the low-
profile Nvidia RTX A2000. Perhaps this
is to differentiate it from the Intel-based
ThinkStation P360, which supports up to
the Nvidia RTX A5000 in what appears to
be the same tower chassis as the P358.
However, those users who require more GPU
performance can also choose the consumer-
focused Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080.
Other features of the ThinkStation P358
include up to 128GB DDR4, 3200MHz
memory and up to 10TB of storage. This
is on par with the ThinkStation P360, but
significantly less than the ThinkStation
P620, which can handle up to 1TB of
memory and 20TB of storage.
www.lenovo.com/thinkworkstations
10/08/2022 12:03
 INTEL LAUNCHES ARC PRO A-SERIES GPUS
FOR DESKTOP AND MOBILE WORKSTATIONS
» Intel’s new discrete pro GPUs get their first public airing. On paper, they look
well-suited to CAD — now and in the future, with hardware ray tracing built in
I
ntel has made its much-
anticipated entry into the world
of discrete workstation graphics
with the launch of the Intel Arc
Pro A-series professional range of
GPUs for CAD, AEC and ‘creators’.
The first three products are the Intel Arc
Pro A30M GPU for mobile workstations and
the Intel Arc Pro A40 and Intel Arc Pro A50
GPUs for ultra-compact and small form
factor (SFF) desktop workstations. All three
GPUs appear to be ‘entry level’ but include
advanced features such as hardware ray
tracing and machine learning.
For pro workstations, driver optimisation
and certification is important. Intel
has stated it is targeting certifications
with leading professional software
applications within the AEC and design
and manufacturing industries, but has not
specified which ones.
In the past, when Intel only offered
graphics built into to its CPUs, it focused on
certification for only the most popular CAD
and BIM tools. With Arc Pro, we expect Intel
to up its game.
At Siggraph on 8 August, the company
showed off Intel Arc Pro Graphics
Workstation GPUs running
Trimble SketchUp with D5 Render
to demonstrate the hardware
accelerated ray tracing and hardware-
assisted AI (XeSS) capabilities
of the new cards when rendering
architectural scenes.
p08_09_D3D_AUGSEPT22_NEWS.indd 9
D5 Render’s real-time rendering software
is based on Unreal Engine 4 and Nvidia RTX
rendering technology, but the rendering
pipeline is based on Microsoft DX12 and
DXR, which is supported directly by Intel
Arc Pro GPUs. Applications that take
advantage of ray tracing using the Vulkan
API should also be compatible.
In terms of specifications, the Intel Arc
Pro A40 and A50 are very similar. They
both feature 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, four
mini DisplayPort outputs and the same
memory bandwidth, plus the same number
of Execution Units, Xe-cores, Render Slices,
and Ray Tracing Units. The only notable
differences are form factor, thermal design
power (TDP) and peak performance.
The A40 is single-slot with 50W peak
power and 3.50 TFLOPs peak performance;
while the A50 is dual-slot with 75W peak
power and 4.8 TFLOPs peak performance.
The A30M is virtually identical to the A40,
but the number of outputs will be specific
to the mobile workstation.
www.intel.com
WHAT WE THINK
This is a significant move
from Intel as it looks to boost
its graphics capabilities and
compete more strongly with AMD
and Nvidia, which offer a wide
range of discrete workstation
GPUs via the AMD Radeon Pro
and Nvidia RTX brands.
Prior to the launch, Intel’s
workstation GPU presence was
solely through integrated graphics,
where the GPU is built into the CPU.
Such processors are only suitable for
true entry-level workflows.
With its first-generation Arc Pro
products, Intel is clearly targeting
users of CAD and BIM software,
where graphics requirements
are relatively low. Such tools are
generally ‘CPU-limited’ and, in
many cases, you’ll see no significant
performance difference between a
With a low-profile, budget pro GPU and one that costs
dual-slot design, the
Intel Arc Pro A50 has ten or even twenty times more.
a similar form factor Intel has not yet released pricing,
to the Nvidia RTX but we expect the Arc Pro A40 and
A2000 but, on paper, A50 to be priced competitively
appears to be less with other low-profile professional
powerful
GPUs. Intel’s trump card, like that
of the AMD Radeon Pro W6400,
is that it has hardware ray tracing
built in. The Nvidia T600 and T1000
do not. Plus, it has an additional
2 GB of memory, which may prove
important for viz-centric workflows,
especially when next-gen CAD
graphics engines come online with
ray tracing in the viewport. However,
Intel will have to compete with
decades of pro driver development
from both AMD and Nvidia in an
industry where both performance
and stability are valued very highly.
On mobile, Intel arguably faces a
bigger challenge in an increasingly
competitive entry-level segment.
While the new Intel Arc Pro A30M
GPU should slot into existing pro
laptops, it will go up against a new
generation of mobile workstations
with AMD Ryzen Pro 6000 H-series
processors, which come with
integrated AMD RDNA 2 graphics
and AMD Radeon Pro graphics
drivers. This includes the Lenovo
ThinkPad P14s Gen3 and ThinkPad
P16s Gen3 (see left).
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 9
10/08/2022 12:03
 NEWS
HP ANYWHERE EMERGES
FROM BETA TESTING STAGE
H Stratasys to
P Anyware, a remote
graphics software that
supports hybrid work
environments, has come
out of beta.
The 22.07 release delivers two headline
features: support for Apple M1 silicon; and
HP Anyware collaboration, which allows
GPU-accelerated screen sharing.
HP Anyware, according to company
executives, allows users to remote
into “virtually any host environment”,
including physical or virtual workstations
(on-premise or in the cloud) across
Windows, Linux, or MacOS.
It uses Teradici’s PCoIP protocol,
which places a big emphasis on colour-
accurate, ‘lossless’ image quality and
supports multiple 4K/UHD displays, plus
a range of peripherals with ‘low-latency
performance’, including Wacom pen
3D Systems acquires rotating build platform
D
P Polar has been acquired
by 3D Systems, as the
latter looks to accelerate
its polymer 3D printing
technologies. The company
plans to take advantage of DP Polar’s
patented continuous printing process,
which uses a stationary printhead
above a rotating platform.
The large-scale and segmented rotating
print platform looks to eliminate the
start/stop operations of virtually all
additive manufacturing processes and
gets bonus points for longevity, with the
process minimising the wear and vibration
associated with traditional printhead
movements.
The rotating platform can be paired with
a variety of printing technologies and can
even accommodate pick-and-place robotic
systems that embed electronics or other
10 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p10_11_D3D_AUGSEP22_NEWS.indd 10
displays and tablets and 3D mice.
HP acquired Teradici in 2021, and HP
Anyware is the evolution of Teradici CAS,
augmented with key features from HP
ZCentral Remote Boost. With support for
Apple M1 Silicon, users of HP Anyware can
now remote into both M1-based Macs and
Intel-based Macs.
In the 22.07 release, collaboration is
limited to the host sharing their screen
with one secondary user. However, for
true team collaboration, there are plans
to support multiple users in subsequent
releases of the software. In the next
release (22.09), HP Anyware will also get a
full-client user interface refresh.
Prices start at £99 per use per year for
non-GPU acceleration and £198 for GPU
acceleration (note: the Mac version always
uses the GPU).
www.hp.com
features into the body of a component as
it is printed.
With this acquisition, 3D Systems says
it will leverage its polymer materials
portfolio, as well as Oqton’s software, to
bring true high-speed, mass-production
AM to a range of industries.
www.3dsystems.com
Castor adds 2D
analysis of parts
C
astor has launched a new
capability to automatically
analyse 2D drawings,
both technically and
economically, and to provide
recommendations on their suitability
for 3D printing.
The software automatically extracts
product manufacturing information from
PDF files, calculating a part’s size, volume
and complexity, and then suggests the 3D
printability of parts, recommends optimal
technology and materials, and performs a
financial analysis of additive manufacturing
costs compared to those that might be
incurred via traditional manufacturing.
www.3dcastor.com
HP Anywhere
enables remote
employees to work
from their location
of choice acquires Covestro
S
tratasys has announced the
acquisition of the Covestro
AM business, which should
allow it to expand its
differentiated materials
offering in stereolithography, DLP
and powders, supported by a broad IP
portfolio.
This acquisition of the German materials
company, which is due to close during
the first quarter of 2023, should enable
Stratasys to offer more full solutions to
customers and accelerate next-generation
materials development for manufacturing
with partners, according to the company.
www.stratasys.com
gITF standard
gets 2.0 update
T
he Khronos Group has
announced that glTF 2.0
has been released as an
international standard for
3D assets — one that it hopes
will become as pervasive as jpeg is for
images.
The glTF standard minimises the
runtime processing associated with
unpacking and processing 3D assets,
while enabling sophisticated pervasive
DP Polar's rotating graphics functionality.
build platform Essentially, it defines an extensible,
aims to eliminate
the stop/start common publishing format for 3D
operations common content, tools and services, which
in modern AM streamlines authoring workflows and
supports interoperable use of content
across the industry.
www.khronos.org
09/08/2022 17:28
 MARKFORGED STRIKES DEAL TO ROUND
UP
AQCUIRE DIGITAL METAL Railway rolling stock

T
manufacturer Alstom has
he 3D printing landscape announced its adoption of
continues to consolidate, the Replique on-demand
with the announcement of the 3D printing platform. It
acquisition of Digital Metal hopes to reduce complexity
by Markforged. The latter within its supply chain
has in its sights Digital Metal's binder by using the platform to
jetting technology Höganäs AB, as it produce small batches
looks to further expand its 3d printing of parts on demand and
technology range. decentrally
According to Markforged executives, the www.replique.io
acquisition of Digital Metal will further the
company’s strategy to solve manufacturing
challenges for industrial customers “at Kubotek3D and Cadenas
the point of need”, with the binder jetting have announced a
technology capable of producing high partnership that will see
volumes of functional metal parts with KeyCreator users provided
“minimal setup required”. with access to 3D and 2D
Markforged sees powder binder component geometry for
jetting as a highly scalable additive millions of parts from
manufacturing technology for production- manufacturer catalogues
grade parts using a variety of metal distributed manufacturing by enabling the Digital Metal's via 3Dfindit, a technical
materials. Powder binder jetting reliable, high-volume production of precise binder jetting search engine that is
technology has
complements the existing Digital Forge metal parts at the point of need. Infusing already been powered by Cadenas
offering, and will expand Markforged’s Digital Metal’s solution into The Digital used to produce www.kubotek3d.com
addressable market by solving new Forge platform allows us to address new hundreds of
customer problems. applications in the medical, automotive, thousands of parts
Founded in 2003, Digital Metal is a luxury goods and other industries,” said CGTech has announced the
wholly-owned subsidiary of metal powders Markforged CEO Shai Terem. latest release of Vericut
specialist Höganäs AB, which has been “The Digital Metal team has created v9.3, with strengthened
more or less kept as an in-house service. a robust and scalable solution that core, improved collision
Its proprietary binder jetting 3D printing complements our existing technologies. I checking and an increased
technology has already been used to look forward to welcoming their talented limit on axes per
produce hundreds of thousands of parts. people to Markforged.” subsystem. The aim here
And executives from Markforged claim As part of the transaction, Markforged is smarter, more efficient
they see significant opportunities to take will pay Höganäs approximately $32 manufacturing processes
this further still, accelerating Digital Metal million in cash, approximately 4.1 million that improve simulation
adoption through integrated software shares of Markforged common stock and and streamline overall
capabilities and the power of its global approximately $1.5 million in cash to settle workflow
go-to-market engine. certain intercompany balances. The deal is www.cgtech.com
“With the Digital Metal acquisition, expected to close during 3Q2022.
Markforged is advancing our vision for www.markforged.com
Sandvik has launched
Cimatron 16, which includes
a new user interface and

Beta CAE v23 launches for faster meshes increased automation

for faster mould design,

B
electrode creation, and NC
eta CAE v23 has launched programming, as well as a
with an extensive list of new emphasis on solutions
highlights for simulation for toolmakers including die
and analysis, including addendum surfaces, mesh
some impressive-sounding manipulation, and drafting
performance enhancements for its www.cimatron.com
meshing capabilities.
The company says that the unification of
TOPO and MESH functionality in Beta CAE KittyCAD, a company
v23 provides an extraordinary boost to the building a product design
average user as geometry and mesh are infrastructure for the
completely manipulated from one toolset. internet, has announced
This has been supplemented by the the launch of its API for
redesign of common functions, with a Further improvements have taken place in New simulation hardware designers,
modern, neat look and feel, common anisotropic meshing of leading edges. and analysis enabling them to develop
capabilities will be
GUI, unified functions, as well as by the Updates to License Manager a boost for Beta automated workflows that
addition of new dedicated toolsets for the compatibility mean that, starting from CAE users read, write and auto-
designer or the analyst. v23 onwards, the Beta LM version 7 is a generate metadata on top
For CFD, Beta CAE claims an acceleration prerequisite for running any Beta Software of hardware design files
of 50% has been achieved for batch Suite product. www.kittycad.io
meshing, particularly mixed-type meshes. www.beta-cae.com

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 11

p10_11_D3D_AUGSEP22_NEWS.indd 11 09/08/2022 17:28

 COMMENT
Lightweighting and topology
optimisation are great, but if parts can’t
be qualified, then who is to blame when
things go wrong? Our columnist SJ
finds something to ‘clack’ about,
while tackling AM gyroids
A
SMR, or autonomous
sensory meridian response,
is a term that describes
the sedative sensation of
sounds that send happy
tingles cascading through the body.
A few of my much-loved ASMR sounds:
the soft crackling of freshly baked bread as
you tear it open, the barely audible flutter
as you turn the page of your favourite book,
and the triumphant ‘clack’ as I place a part
on my boss’s desk that he told me was
“unprintable” the week prior.
The ‘unprintable’ part was a gyroid, one of
my greatest loves. The gyroid was invented
in the 1970s and is described as an infinitely
connected Triply Periodic Minimalist Surface
(TPMS). TPMS structures have a higher
surface-to-volume ratio than common
strut-based cellular structures, which can
be tailored to suit specific engineering
design requirements to enhance mechanical
performance — think energy absorption for
ballistics or heat transfer or lightweighting
to remove material.
But the general public may not be familiar
with them, given how challenging they
were to manufacture before the onset of 3D
printing.
Gyroids are my favourite structures, but
there’s more than one way to lightweight
a part. Strut-based latticing and
topology optimisation are the other two
underutilised design resources to reduce
the amount of material in non-critical
areas of your part.
I see the greatest success with strut-
based lattices in the medical sector,
where we can 3D print implants with
better osseointegration, since the porous
structures more closely mimic those of
anatomical bone. The porous nature of the
lattice allows nutrients to flow through
and around the lattice structure to aid in
soft tissue and bone growth. (Mimicking
nature’s biological designs? I’m getting that
ASMR tingle again.)
Topology optimisation is where 3D
printing truly shines, as a part has
12 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p12_D3D_AUGSEPT22_SJ.indd 12
its shape optimised for the given
design space for a given set of loads,
boundary conditions and constraints.
Additionally, it allows you to efficiently
combine multiple parts into one, while
also reducing the amount of material
required for your design. And that
saves you not only cost, but time as well
— especially if your organisation has
invested in AI and machine learning.
NAILS ON A CHALKBOARD
As I stood there with a smug ‘I told you so’
grin on my face, clacking my gyroid cube
on his desk, my boss asked: “And how do
you know it is sound all the way through?
How can I trust that every point is where
we think it is and that all the nodes are
connected – even in places we can’t see?”
My genius reply? “Uhhh…that’s a great
question. I’ll get back to you.”
I took upon the Sisyphean task of asking
“What’s your favorite lightweighting
method?” (or some variation thereof)
as my networking ice-breaker for the
ASME AM Industry Summit in June. To my
surprise, 70% of the audience response
cited topology optimisation. I asked a
similar question at my very first Additive
Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) back in
2015, and the overwhelming response was
strut-based latticing.
So, I wondered, was this based solely
on what was trendy in the media, or was
there something behind it in the design or
manufacturing space that I had missed?
On Day Two, I followed up with a second
round of questions and was able to discern
that, like my boss, most of the higher up
design decision makers were uncertain
of how to tell if lattices were sound. This
uncertainty was rapidly hindering adoption
of the technology. But where is all of this
uncertainty coming from?
OPPORTUNITY CLACKS
Misophonia can generally be described
as a decreased tolerance to specific
sounds, triggering reactions such as anger,
Topology optimisation is where 3D
printing truly shines, as a part has
its shape optimised for the given
design space and a given set of loads,
boundary conditions and constraints

annoyance or the fight-or-flight response. In
a business context, it can be summed up in
one word: Liability.
If something goes wrong with a part
that has been lightweighted, who falls on
their sword? Is it the owner of the design?
The owner of the printer? The printer
manufacturer? Or does it fall on the owner/
licensor of the print software?
Lightweighting could change business
strategies across multiple sectors. As the
technology grows, we can offer shorter
lifecycles, greater customisation and more
sustainable practices.
However, if we were to impose liability on
the printer manufacturer for any product
the printer could potentially produce, we’d
be creating excessive liability and damage
the business case for 3D printing.
After a long night reading papers on
latticing, trying to find the answer to
my boss’s question, I was early to work
and making coffee when I overheard two
members of our NDT team discussing the
new CT software they were trying out.
They were debating which demo part they
should scan first. The grin slid easily back
onto my face as I turned to them, coffee
in hand, and said, “You fellas looking for a
demonstration piece?”
My other hand reached into my work
jacket and tossed it across the table, where
it landed with a very satisfying ‘clack’.
GET IN TOUCH: Contributor SJ is a metal additive engineer aka
THEE Hottie of Metal Printing. SJ’s work involves providing additive
manufacturing solutions and #3dprinting of metal parts to help
create a decarbonised world.
09/08/2022 12:05
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Lightweight or bust? The business
case for lightweighting and AM can
come with some bottlenecks, but as
Alexander Pluke writes, the solution
often lies in a better understanding
of family dynamics
T
he challenge when it comes
to cool things is that they
can lead even the smartest
among us to miss the most
obvious facts. And let’s face
it: lightweighting is cool.
But amidst the beautiful design thinking,
there are headaches, too, because design is
only the start of the production story. This
is especially true when paired with additive
manufacturing (AM), where new materials,
processes and geometries fly in the face of
tradition, and can be difficult to stomach all
at once.
There’s a lot to digest for design
engineering’s wider family. First, in our
analogy, we have the material science and
simulation cousins, who must explain how
these new materials and structures will
perform. If behaviours can’t be predictably
and repeatedly explained, then they can’t be
used in real applications.
Then the elder siblings of production
engineering must manufacture these
fantastic parts. If operating workflows
are too complex and costly, then scale
production won’t be achieved.
Next, the aunts and uncles of quality
engineering must ensure parts work as
expected. If material and process variability
combine with uncertain behaviours that
are hard to measure, risks stack up and/or
costs associated with avoiding part failure
increase.
Finally, the executives — the parents in
our analogy — must satisfy business needs.
If lightweighted AM parts aren’t attractive
when compared to other, more certain
options, then applications won’t graduate to
production at scale.
FAMILY DYNAMICS
Lightweighting is a business case that
requires executive approval, and its success
clearly relies on the whole family working
well together.
While creative design engineer geniuses
(the teenagers, if I may?) are focused on
stunning lightweight creations, their elder
siblings and aunties around the table are
p15_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CommentPluke2.indd 15
gawking at the implications. The parents,
meanwhile, are questioning how much it will
cost and when it will be ready.
All the while, everyone in the family is
trying to be supportive, but recounting
the struggles that arose the last time they
indulged ‘Junior’s next project’.
The growing pains behind every
lightweighting success story are a good
sign. It shows that the engineering family is
on a mission to adopt the designer’s new-
fangled approaches, but past methods of
fixing production issues won’t work in this
scenario.
The solution is found in getting the family
together, tearing them away from their
own siloed activities (or phone screens) to
talk together around the table. Grumbles
arise, thoughts are shared, goals are set,
and in the end, each has a clearer view of
the other’s perspective. This is especially
important when adolescents come of
age, and everyone needs to reset their
expectations and grow.
In our analogy, this is easy to visualise, but
in reality, it creates the logistical challenge
of presenting a business case, in terms that
the parents will understand, from a central
pool of multidimensional information. And
this becomes even more complex when
different sides of the family speak different
languages, and trade-offs in each choice
affect different members in complex ways.
The frequency of required meetings,
coupled with the issue of translation loss
between groups in the workflow, may mean
the family needs to spend all its time around
the table — with no actual work being done.
COMMUNICATION MATTERS
This is one of the drivers for our work at
Additive Flow: after a harrowing 80-hour
week translating a ‘simple’ lightweight
design to build prep with state-of-the art
tools and back-and-forths between experts
in the chain, I couldn’t bear repeating this
torture each time we move from design to
production.
If families are engines for sharing and
improving learning between generations,
COMMENT
The the equivalent for engineers are the
technologies and practices that teams
solution evolve and deploy over time.
is found At Additive Flow, we’ve created a platform
for consolidating and optimising across the
in getting different dimensions of data throughout
the family the engineering family, while linking these
together, with business case objectives for executive
decision-making.
tearing Through deploying best-of-breed
them away standards such as volumetric 3MF, we
connect across the ecosystem, reducing my
from their 80-hour handover to minutes.
own siloed A unified optimisation interface allows
activities production siblings and executive parents to
trade off production speed and cost against
(or phone design engineering’s optimality, while also
screens), to keeping the aunties and uncles of quality
engineering happy.
talk around In the same way that parents share
the table experiences outside the school gates, cross-
 lifecycle family members working together
implies a culture of more open innovation
and data sharing between industry players
as well.
More viable business cases equal more
growth for everyone — and the multi-billion
dollar AM student can graduate to the multi-
trillion dollar manufacturing world-of-work.
As well as the commercial gains, there are
also meaningful opportunities for real-life
families. Each kilogram saved per printed
part is equivalent to the CO2 impact of two
deciduous trees. This means our industry
has the potential to deliver environmental
benefits equalling thousands of acres of
forest, year on year.
How’s that for an incentive to unlock the
business case of lightweight AM for the next
generation?
GET IN TOUCH: Alexander Pluke is CEO and founder of Additive
Flow, a software for the simultaneous optimisation of the entire AM
workflow, which has worked with companies including Saint-Gobain,
Royal Haskoning, Tata Steel and Zeiss to maximise their AM value.
hello@additiveflow.com
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 15
09/08/2022 18:36
 VISUAL DESIGN GUIDE
COMMONWEALTH
GAMES MEDALS
Designed by four students from
host city Birmingham’s School of
Jewellery — Amber Alys, Francesca
Wilcox and Catarina Rodrigues
Caeiro — and manufactured by
local company Toye, Kenning &
Spencer, the 2022 Commonwealth
Games medals celebrate diversity
and inclusion

JEWEL-LIKE
Instead of being round, the medal has a non-traditional
shape, designed to resemble the pendant of a necklace
and be worn as jewellery as well as a medal

INSIDE
AND OUT
Winners will be given a round box in
which to keep the medal, featuring an
aerial map design that provides a clear
connection to the medal’s origins

JUNE / JULY
16 AUGUST 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
/ SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

p16_17_D3D_AUGSEPT22_VDG.indd 16 05/08/2022 10:44

 FOR ALL SHAPES
AND SIZES
The ribbon has been designed to allow
athletes to adjust the length of the medal
so that it sits in the correct position on
anyone who wears it

CELEBRATING
NETWORKS
The embossed areas and the pattern
on the box represent an aerial map of
Birmingham’s road and canal network,
as well as symbolising the journey that
athletes take to reach their goal of
competing in the Commonwealth Games

TACTILE
EXPERIENCE
The designers wanted athletes to be
able to feel the medal as well as see it,
so that those with a visual impairment
could appreciate the pattern too

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / APRIL

DEVELOP3D.COM / MAY 2022 17
SEPTEMBER

p16_17_D3D_AUGSEPT22_VDG.indd 17 05/08/2022 10:44

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SCAN ME PID#: 211135450
 » Hill Helicopters is on a mission to
bring a heightened sense of
excitement to the business of luxury
transport, by combining the glamour
of the hypercar with the unparalleled
convenience of vertical take-off.
Claudia Schergna meets the brand
propelling a new era of rotorcraft
20 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

p20_21_22_23_24_25_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CoverStory.indd 20 10/08/2022 12:07

 The HX50 from Hill
Helicopters is
due for launch at
the end of 2023

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 21

p20_21_22_23_24_25_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CoverStory.indd 21 10/08/2022 12:07

 O
wning a helicopter is like having your
own magic carpet. There’s no need to
worry about traffic, road closures, red
lights or runways. It’s travel at its most
luxuriously expedient.
However, the personal helicopter
industry has suffered in recent years
from a lack of the new blood needed to bring competition
and innovation to any sector.
The team at Hill Helicopters intends to change that.
The company’s launch product, the HX50, is dubbed
a “flying supercar” by founder Jason Hill and is due
to launch at the end of 2023. The aim is to position
the brand on the cutting edge in both design and
engineering, updating helicopter standards to rival the
exclusivity and luxury seen in top automotive marques.
The story begins when Jason Hill first spotted a gap in
the market for a helicopter designed specifically for the
modern private owner. These customers are some of the
richest people on earth and they expect the very best, he
reasons – but few manufacturers directly address their
needs and expectations.
“We have a lack of competition, because it’s a stagnant
industry,” he says. “The price point has become
completely disconnected from what’s economically
viable. [Other companies] have got to the point where
they’re doing less for more,” he says.
“They are trying to piggyback a supply chain broken
up into lots of different tiers, and trying to make a living
and run an aerospace-qualified business off selling 20
[products] a year. Obviously, it’s got to be expensive.”
What allows Hill to market his company’s products at a
more competitive price is no secret, he says: “What we’ve
done is to cut all that nonsense out,” he explains. “By
vertically integrating, we’re going back to how we used
to make aircraft in the early days of aviation, where the
company makes the whole aircraft. We make everything.”
This approach, he reasons, will enable the brand to sell
22 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p20_21_22_23_24_25_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CoverStory.indd 22
the HX50 at roughly half the price of the nearest five-seat The HX50’s GT50
helicopter on the market. But when buying a helicopter, engine was developed
and built in-house by
retail price is just the tip of the iceberg. the Hill Helicopters
Additional costs come from three main areas, Hill engineering team
explains. First, there’s depreciation; helicopters have a
relatively short number of hours that they can fly before
components need to be replaced and only a number of
years before they need a major overhaul. Second, there’s
the aforementioned lack of competition, which means the
handful of companies that produce parts have a virtual
monopoly. Third, there’s the cost of insurance, which is
directly proportional to how expensive the asset is.
“We have to find a way to sort those problems out
for general aviation,” says Hill. The key is to make
it possible for more people to be able to acquire a
helicopter, either personally or as a small group or
syndicate – way beyond the 12,000 people per year who
currently learn to fly them.
Another difficult aspect of designing and launching
a new aircraft is dealing with regulations. Besides the
challenges that come with meeting laws in the country
where the aircraft is produced, there are international
regulations to meet as well. These can prove tricky to
negotiate, says Hill, because the stagnancy seen around
design and engineering is also seen in the approaches
taken by regulatory bodies.
PROOF POINTS
After working on early design schemes, engineering
layouts, and looking into ways to upgrade traditional
aircraft engines by using automotive derivatives –
including types of diesels, two-stroke and four-stroke
engines – Hill came to the conclusion that the technology
he was after simply did not exist yet.
Faced with this problem, he and a small team of
engineers began preliminary work to prove that they
could build a brand-new engine, a project that rapidly
moved on to designing the entire aircraft. With their
10/08/2022 12:07

‘‘ The app is
generating
initial 3D CAD design showcasing the project, they were
able to secure a £1.4m grant from Innovate UK to begin
further development of the private-use HX50 and its
such a commercial-use variant, the KC50.
groundswell The difference between the models is minimal – simply
a different approach to achieving airworthiness approval,
of excitement. Hill explains. Because of this, the launch date for the
It means KC50 will be further off in the future. “It’s the same
we can aircraft. We’ll just subject it to lengthy bureaucracy,” says
communicate Hill. “The HX model is purely focused on a streamlined
path through regulations, much like it used to be in the
with old days, before the bureaucracy reached these dizzy
customers heights that they’re at today.”
exactly where This involves using experimental or amateur-build
we are, what regulations, he continues, “where we can bring the owners
to the factory and get them involved in building their own
we’re doing helicopters as part of the ownership experience.”
and how it’s The experience of being involved with the design and
going build of the helicopter is what attracts most customers,
’’
in fact. “One of the interesting questions [that comes
up when] dealing with these kinds of people is: ‘What
on earth do you buy for people who have already got
everything in the world?’ And the answer is these kinds of
once-in-a-lifetime experiences that money can’t buy.”
How much future owners can expect to personalise
their rotorcraft? Around 51%, says Hill. Through the
Hill Helicopters app, they are connected directly with
the development facility, can receive live updates, leave
1 backgrounds and education, the team uses a mixture
2 analysis to simulate rotor aerodynamics, structural
3 to make flying the HX50
p20_21_22_23_24_25_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CoverStory.indd 23
COVER STORY
feedback and ask the developers questions directly.
“It’s generating such a groundswell of excitement,” says
Hill. “It means that you’re properly communicating with
all your customers about exactly where you are, exactly
what you’re doing and exactly how it’s going.”
The app will grow to include all the information
one could possibly need about the management of an
individual aircraft, with a portal for accessing safety and
maintenance instructions.
It also features a digital cockpit, where customers can
choose from a wide range of options, from exterior paint
colour to interior leather choices, personalising their
helicopter before they visit the factory and have a chance
to work side-by-side with engineers and technicians.
Renders are also produced in-house using Blender, to
create marketing materials that generate initial interest,
as well as bespoke work to aid customer buy-in. “We use
renders to allow us to validate the as-designed appearance
of the general vehicle aesthetics, fits and finishes,”
Hill explains. It’s a way to ensure that the quality of the
aircraft matches the expectations of customers and the
broader market before the design is finalised and the
company commits to tooling.
Besides being key for visualisation purposes while an
aircraft is still in development, Hill foresees that rendering
will be a key tool for the commercialisation of the aircraft,
as it’s easier and more convenient to generate stills and
videos with modern rendering tools than traditional
photography, even when the helicopter is finished.
MODERN APPROACHES TO TRADITION
In contrast to the innovation seen in its design, the team
at Hill began the development of the HX50 with the most
traditional method: “Our design process starts on a white
board, or on a piece of paper, or the back of an envelope,”
he says. “We ideate, get the big picture and get all the bits
in the right place. And then the next stage is to move into
3D and start concepting things. And then very quickly,
we’ll bring in simulation.”
To accommodate designers from different
of software tools. But overall, the process relies heavily
on the company’s backbone of PTC Creo for 3D CAD
and Windchill for PLM, supplied by its CAD technology
supplier Concurrent Engineering.
The team runs initial simulations using methods
including FEA and CFD to get an idea of the physical
attributes of the concept, heat transfer, vibration
characteristics, fluid dynamic issues and aerodynamics.
Calculations are carried out using PTC Mathcad Prime,
to make sure as much empirically derived data is used as
possible. Analysis is performed using the Ansys suite.
The team then moves on to more comprehensive
●
1 The design process
starts with some free-hand
sketches, and then moves to
3D CAD using PTC Creo
●
2 ●
3 With its Hill Digital
Cockpit, and integrated iPad
system, the company aims
convenient and intuitive
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 23
10/08/2022 12:07
 ‘‘ We’ve got
the full suite
dynamics, flight dynamics, flight mechanics and
control systems.
“We’ve got the full suite of tools that you would
of tools you imagine you would need to be able to develop an aircraft
would need to the greatest extent possible in the virtual world before
to be able to you build stuff,” says Hill.
“And then once you’ve done as much as you can, the
develop an next trick is knowing when to stop. You’ve got to know
aircraft to when to break the pencils and take people’s keyboards
the greatest off them!”
possible Digital designs then move into physical prototyping,
using HyperMill to programme the parts for in-house
extent in the machining. The CAM phase is just as important as 4
virtual world simulation, says Hill: “The thing that people need to
before you be reminded of is that you learn so much by making
ever build things.”
Early versions of the concept are produced, to make
stuff sure the design meets all the requirements and is fully
’’ compliant with what the manufacturing process can
deliver. “Otherwise, you have to start that whole journey
after you think you’ve finished.”
Being vertically integrated is an enormous advantage,
says Hill, as it allows more efficient communication
between departments: “The guys that are designing
stuff sit next to the guys that make stuff, and they sit
next to the guys that run the machines. People can 5
see that they’re not an island. They can’t just do what
they want, and then chuck it over the fence, and have
somebody else worry about it.”
Building a strong, reliable company is just as
important as making an innovative, effective helicopter,
he adds: “We’re developing the processes that make the
helicopter. Not just the helicopter.”

THE JOURNEY TO ZERO EMISSIONS

Even though they are powered by standard helicopter
jet fuel, Hill claims its helicopters are the most efficient
way to take off vertically. The modern rotor systems,
both for the main and tail rotors, are both more efficient
6
and quieter than existing systems.

●
4 ●
5 ●
6 The HX50 features 5
8 individual leather seats, which can
be customised by customers during
the aircraft’s build, via the Hill
Helicopters app
●
7 Cleverly designed storage areas
make it easy for users to stow and
retrieve their luggage
●
8 The Hill GT50 engine exploits
a 3-can combustor system, which
offers greater fuel flexibility
●
9 Creating photorealistic renders
using Blender allows Hill Helicopters
to validate designs and communicate
with customers

24 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

p20_21_22_23_24_25_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CoverStory.indd 24 10/08/2022 12:07


This power system is complemented by the lowest
drag coefficient of any helicopter in its size class. “We’re
around a third of some similar size helicopters, because
of the quality of the aerodynamic design. So our power
consumption for a flight, particularly at higher speeds,
is incredibly low,” he says.
While he agrees traditional fuels are not sustainable
in the long term, Hill’s actively on the hunt for ways to
reduce the carbon footprint realistically in the short
term.
As he explains, “There’s no point in pretending that
you’re going to be able to make a battery-powered
helicopter anytime soon. It’s just not possible! A lot of
the configurations that the top companies are looking at
have worse energy efficiency than our helicopter.”
Biofuels are the immediate solution, he reckons.
Electrifying the helicopters will make them even better,
but a way to electrify them without using batteries
– which creates a lot of other environmental issues
like unsustainable mining efforts and the difficulty of
disposal – is yet to be found.
“In the short term, the way to get to 95% carbon
neutrality is to use appropriately sourced biofuels and
sustainable aviation fuels,” he says. His own in-house
developed engine, he points out, is designed to run on
different sources of fuel, and these include biofuels.
p20_21_22_23_24_25_D3D_AUGSEPT22_CoverStory.indd 25
COVER STORY
‘‘
This is how we’re going to solve the technical challenges
we face to make aviation more environmentally
responsible in the short term. I’m not claiming that this
is the answer for 30 years’ time. It’s the answer for now
’’
“This is how we’re going to solve the technical
challenges we face to make aviation more environmentally
responsible in the short term,” he says.
“I’m not claiming that this is the answer for 30 years’
time. This is the answer for now. And it buys us time to
solve the bigger problems with where we get all those
electrons from.”
This vision sits with what Hill calls a ‘second wave of
general aviation’, a movement for which he wants to be
a leader, helping save the industry from further neglect,
bringing the aviation sector up to speed with modern
automotive standards, and getting people interested in
flying again.
This wave is about fulfilling the desires of flying
amateurs with models like the HX50, providing people
with the magic carpet they’ve always dreamed of owning.
www.hillhelicopters.com
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 25
10/08/2022 12:07
 INTERVIEW
Q&A: CLEAR SKIES AHEAD
FOR AEROSPACE AM?
Aerospace is rapidly adopting additive manufacturing in all areas, from space
rocket components to aircraft interiors. We asked Vinu Vijayan, aviation and
space specialist at EOS, how the technology demands of companies in this
sector are changing and where they’re planning to take us in future
Q : The aviation industry was hit hard by the
pandemic. What trends are you seeing now, coming
out the other side?
A : I think that additive manufacturing (AM),
contrary to other technologies, saw opportunities
even during the crisis. The space industry has been
substantially more resilient, and we see that the
adoption of AM is substantially increasing. There is a
really strong movement, from single-laser systems to
large multi-laser systems, indicating that customers
want more parts or bigger parts.
We have been working with big companies and names
in the space industry, but also with start-ups that are
contributing towards the new space economy. The start-
ups have begun investing in in-house manufacturing AM
capabilities. That’s a key enabler. Earlier manufacturing
had to be undertaken with select external companies
with specific established infrastructure and competency,
because it was too complex to be done internally. We saw
this new space evolution happening in the US first, but it
has now reached Europe, India, China, Japan and Korea.
We see a lot of movement on the metal side, but also
on the polymer side. Many aerospace qualifications are
well underway, and aim to replace parts with additively
manufactured components based on process-level
qualifications, where the system as well as the material
will be qualified. Apart from this, issues such as taking
a circular-economy approach through elements such
as a good processes for powder lifetime management
are becoming very tangible and relevant, with research
underway now.
Q : What is the ecosystem like for aerospace start-ups?
A : All these aerospace-related start-ups have capex-
intensive ambitions – they need the funding. But
what additive gives them is the ability to try out their
concepts substantially faster.
Even though AM might appear to be an expensive
technology at first glance, if you’re not looking at
producing the same parts for the next five years, without
too much complexity, then in comparison to traditional
technologies, the initial steps that you need to take are
not so expensive. There is no need to invest in long-term
fixed assets, tooling and so on, which means they can
focus on their concepts and possibilities, rather than
worry about manufacturing bottlenecks.
So, I think that business model, product and design
innovation are the focus, for which AM is an enabler.
26 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p26_27_D3D_AUGSEPT22_EOS.indd 26
Q : What is EOS doing to help with qualifying parts?
A : For EOS, it is important as the first step to
establish a healthy level of confidence and trust in
the technology, which means that we are investing time
and experience with clients to qualify material, systems
and processes, not just partially. And then, once you
About the Interviewee
have confidence on that level, we are trying to enable Vinu Vijayan is
the end users of the technology, such as an airline, by responsible for Aviation
building up the data needed to give them confidence in & Space within EOS
for the EMEA region.
the process controls. He originally comes
On the materials side of things, we can test and from the aerospace
establish industry-standard technology readiness levels, industry, having worked
providing the data required to have a minimum level of for companies such as
Airbus, with several
compliance. This is then guaranteed through the quality years of leadership
control processes we have. roles in aerospace,
Where an organisation is using distributed manufacturing, sales,
business development
manufacturing, our systems can include functionality that & project execution.
enables secure digital rights management. This enables a Vijayan graduated
customer to create a process for a 3D-printed part that can with a Bachelor’s
degree in Mechanical
be sent to any hub to be printed, and the customer can be Engineering, followed
confident that nobody has tampered with it. by a Master’s in
Automation & Robotics
Q
(Flight system
: What do you find most exciting about the future of identification) in
additive and aerospace? German, and an MBA
from the Collège des
A
Ingénieurs, Paris
: The most exciting part of AM in aerospace is that
it is constantly transforming the way components,
sub-assemblies, and even complete systems are designed
and manufactured. AM is transforming many parts
of industry in an almost irreversible manner. This
is happening both by increasing the footprint of AM
(both in terms of size of parts and number of parts) and
reimagining the design space.
The other side is where you’re looking at the upstream
process. There is a limit to what a human designer can
do there to use AM to its maximum potential, and this is
where companies like Hyperganic come in. The design
for an aerospike engine that we showcased together
recently hasn’t seen a single day of CAD – zero CAD! It
was completely algorithmic.
Algorithmic design is super-focused on
performance. It lacks the bias of a designer who’s scared
to try out things. The designs are then sent directly
to our 3D printing system. The aerospike component
was a case of a first-time-right print. Technology like
this is creating components that are from a completely
different solution space, a space that is almost
inaccessible to us as humans.
www.eos.info
08/08/2022 12:59
 ‘‘
Algorithmic design is super-
focused on performance. It lacks
the bias of a designer who is scared
to try out new things
’’

Along with partner

Hyperganic, EOS
recently showed off this
generatively designed
aerospike engine

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 27

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 LEVEL
UP
» After hitching a ride
on SpaceX technology,
Launcher’s plan
is to place in orbit
private cube satellites.

Stephen Holmes hears ‘‘

As a modern space and
how in-house additive rocket company, we
have several important
manufacturing helps goals. The first and most
Launcher keep tab on obvious one is for Orbiter
to deliver the lowest
the costs of being a cost in the industry for
the highest propulsive
cosmic courier capability
’’

28 JUNE / JULY 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

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W
ith the small satellite revolution ready
for take off, Launcher plans to become
a big name in the business of precisely
placed satellites.
After first hitching a ride on the
SpaceX SmallSat Rideshare Program, Launcher’s Orbiter
satellite transfer vehicle will then independently venture
on into space, before launching satellites of its own.
It is estimated that, this way, a 400kg payload of cubesats
and small satellites can be deployed per mission, allowing
them to be precisely placed into whatever orbit their
owners desire.
Beginning in 2024, the company will offer its own
launch service—Launcher Light. This is a liquid-fuelled
rocket measuring 15.2m long and 1.1m in diameter, and
capable of carrying 150 kg and 105 kg payloads into low-
earth orbit and sun-synchronous orbit respectively.
Development timelines for Launcher are short, to
p28_29_30_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Velo3D.indd 29
PROFILE
say the least. Orbiter’s design began as soon as SpaceX Once launched into
space, Orbiter can
announced in early 2020 that it would begin selling independently send
payload space on its Falcon 9 rocket. off small satellites
Based in Hawthorne, California, the Launcher team of its own
realised it could make its satellite deployment system
compatible and decided to fast-track the project.
None of this would have been possible without
additively manufactured metal components, according
to Launcher head of manufacturing Tim Berry. The most
challenging of these are produced on a Velo3D Sapphire
3D printing system.
Before joining Launcher, Berry worked at SpaceX for
close to a decade. During this time, he led the Falcon 9’s
second-stage integration team. That work was followed by
leadership roles on the Dragon’s crew and cargo capsules,
before transitioning to head of additive manufacturing.
Today, he oversees Launcher’s 24,000 square foot factory
floor and its team of machinists, welders and technicians,
DEVELOP3D.COM
DEVELOP3D.COM JUNE / JULY 2022 29
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER
08/08/2022 13:01
 PROFILE

●1 Optimising payload as well as the company’s small fleet of metal 3D printers,
volume is vital to chief among them being the Sapphire systems.
prosperity and
growth for Launcher
SPACE-PROVEN TURBOPUMP
●
2 By using 3D
printing in-house, To begin the design process, Launcher licensed the
the company is also drawing for a space-proven turbopump, and then set
able to cut time and
about improving its design using 3D printing.
costs associated
with new parts One notable part is the engine’s shrouded impeller,
a critical and complex Inconel part that spins at 30,000
rpm, which must withstand more than 300 bar of outlet
pressure, and is filled with notoriously hard-to-print,
zero-degree angle surfaces.
“The team at Velo3D took the challenge and we
ended up with a finished part that exceeded all of our
performance objectives,” says Berry. “That was the
beginning of our relationship.”
Launcher subcontracted most of its parts to a network
of contract manufacturers. And while those companies
did a good job, CEO Max Haot realised that the company
would never achieve his goal of fast, flexible and above all optimise the design. Moving to lighter-weight titanium
cost-competitive manufacturing unless Launcher became was the obvious choice.
as vertically integrated as possible.
“As a modern space and rocket company, we have
several important goals,” says Haot. “The first and most
obvious one is for Orbiter to deliver the lowest cost in
the industry for the highest propulsive capability. But
to achieve that, it’s critical to have in-house design and
manufacturing capabilities.
“Every time you buy a separation ring, propulsion
system or support structure from a third party, your costs
and lead time easily rise by a factor of 10. So instead of
the week or so it takes us to design an engine, print, and
test it, we would spend maybe two or three months with
an outside provider. It’s prohibitive.”
Berry interjects and points to the fuel tanks as a typical
example. “Shop around for a space-graded tank able
to withstand 3,000 psi of pressure and you’ll probably
hear lead times of 8 months to two years, especially if
they’re custom,” he said. “That’s not an option in our
environment, so as with many of our components, we took
the approach of designing based on our available tools.”
As it happens, the Orbiter’s 22-litre tanks exactly match
the Sapphire’s build volume. Launcher began by printing
the parts out of Inconel, and although they performed
well, Berry and the team started looking for ways to
“That’s what brought us to our second machine from
Velo3D,” he explained. “It can print the exact same tank
but with less weight and higher pressure capabilities. We
already thinned the walls a bit compared to the original
design, but once we have the first few launches under

‘‘
our belt, we’ll probably reduce them even further as we
continue to push the envelope.”
The team at That’s one of the biggest advantages of having in-
Velo3D took house printing capabilities, he notes, as Launcher can
the challenge continually push for more aggressive designs and higher
performance without losing a lot of time or spending a
and we ended lot of money.
up with a As such, the company is 3D printing a range of
finished part components on its Sapphire systems, among them
that exceeded brackets and other secondary structures, combustion
chambers and injectors.
all of our “We don’t have to completely change our design to make
performance it work with the Velo3D printer,” said Berry. “And in most
objectives. cases, we can use whatever geometry we had planned.
That was the There’s no need to make a bunch of compromises like
there so often is with metal AM.”
beginning The start-up hopes to soon place payloads into
of our customised orbits for a little more than $8,000 per
relationship kilogram. “These rideshares occur every three months,
but if SpaceX’s timing or trajectory does not meet our
’’ customers’ requirements, we’ll also have a premium
launch service through our Launcher Light offering,”
said Haot. “Either way, these services come at a price tag
that’s unprecedented in the space industry.”
www.launcherspace.com

1 2

30 AUGUST
JUNE / JULY 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
/ SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

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» As NASA prepares to return to the moon with its Artemis mission,
we speak with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a company that is modernising
systems from the Apollo era to accelerate future moon missions
A
t Aerojet Rocketdyne, a producer of
advanced propulsion space systems,
engineers have optimised the design of
a thruster module previously proven in
space during the Apollo programme moon
missions nearly 50 years ago.
Used to orient and propel the Orion crew module in
space, not only is the new Reaction Control System (RCS)
quad thruster 67% lighter, but it also helps reduce the
overall production cost of the thruster by 66%, enabling
fast, economical, and sustainable lunar exploration.
In preparation for NASA’s Artemis programme and
other commercial efforts that aim to explore and colonise
the moon, the engineering team redesigned the
RCS module by leveraging the advancements of
the five past decades in propulsion, design and
manufacturing technologies.
Having already successfully demonstrated
that 3D printing could help consolidate the
assembly of the thruster’s injector block as a
single component, the team needed to further
optimise the design for weight and cost – making
the 600-plus thrusters required to make an
exploration effort the size of the Artemis mission
economically viable.
The legacy design of the RCS module consisted
of the four thrusters, a manifold that feeds the
fuel and oxidiser, and a multi-part, thin-walled
casing to piece everything together. James
Horton, an aerospace engineer and mission
architect at Aerojet Rocketdyne and his team
identified many opportunities for improvement.
p33_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Rocket.indd 33
LUNAR
RETURN
(Above) Aerojet The ability to reduce the number of components
Rocketdyne is a key through part and function consolidation immediately
partner of NASA on
preparations for the reduced the cost of assembly, while consolidation also
Artemis mission reduced potential points of failure, increasing the
(Below) 3D printing system’s reliability.
has been used to Aerojet Rocketdyne’s engineers also decided to
create parts for the
incorporate advancements in rocket propulsion
Reaction Control
System (RCS) quad technology to improve the system’s performance, adding
thruster a more reliable rocket fuel and oxidiser combination. This
is easier to store during long space flights and requires
less energy to prevent freezing, reducing the system’s
overall energy consumption and weight.
Using nTopology, the design team successfully shelled
the part on its first attempt. As a bonus, filets could be
added to all edges to alleviate stress concentrations
and improve the part’s fatigue strength.
To further refine the structure, Horton’s
team controlled key design parameters using
nTopology’s field-driven design, allowing it to
create a smooth transition in the lattice beam
thickness — thinner in the centre and thicker near
the shell — to further reduce the part’s weight.
In a few hours, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s engineers
were able to create a manufacturing-ready design
candidate with a 2.5x factor of safety, based on the
maximum tubing pressure.
The part was produced using a Velo3D
Sapphire 3D printer in Titanium 6Al-4V. The
material has approximately half the density of
the Inconel 718 used to build the legacy part,
helping to further reduce the thruster weight.
www.rocket.com
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 33
05/08/2022 10:47
 PROFILE

TOP-DOWN
PROTECTION
As summer sees travellers return
to the skies, aircraft makers are
finding innovative ways to control
in-cabin airflow. Stephen Holmes
speaks to Pexco about how the
company has engineered a creative
solution to keep passengers
breathing easy in their seats

C
ontrolling airflow on passenger
aircraft has never been more
important. Yet long before Covid
reared its head, designers and
engineers were already working on
improving the onboard experience
for passengers.
Pexco Aerospace was one such
company looking to improve air
circulation in plane interiors — keeping air moving not
just along walkways and around passengers’ heads, but
right down to the HEPA filter collection points by their feet.
However, as the company’s engineers researched this
idea, they quickly discovered they were not alone. At
product design consultancy Teague, others had already
developed a concept that could be retrofitted to ‘gaspers’,
the ceiling vents above passengers.
A partnership between Pexco and Teague soon followed,
in which Pexco acquired the rights to Teague’s design.
“We felt like [Teague] was trying to accomplish the same
thing we were: we had patented the sidewall technologies
and they had started the patent process of this AirShield
technology. So we really felt like we had it pretty well
covered,” says Pexco president of aerospace, Jon Page.
The AirShield design, installed over the top of existing
air vents, repurposes purified air from the HEPA
filtration systems, in order to create protective air barriers
around and in between each passenger. Nozzle tips
harness the Bernoulli principle, drawing in surrounding
cabin air and doubling resulting airflow, while also
reducing shared air particles between neighbouring
passengers in an economy cabin by 76%.
The focus for the initial design was narrow body
passenger aircraft, specifically the Boeing 737 and Airbus
A320, says Page. There’s more of them around and more
people flying on them, he reasons, especially as the
industry bounces back from Covid.

34 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

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 ‘‘
We’ve looked at a lot of
different technologies
for AirShield in the future,
but for now, it’s about
getting it certified and
on to aeroplanes
’’

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 35

p34_35_36_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Pexco.indd 35 05/08/2022 11:41

 PROFILE

FREE FLOW OF IDEAS

Initially, the team started by assessing CFD performance,
building on what Teague had done using Ansys Fluent,
adjusting the CAD designs in Solidworks, and then
creating over 20 different versions that were then 3D
printed for physical testing.
The ability to prototype so many iterations was a key
factor in perfecting the design, especially given the size
of part and the cost of its tooling, which would run to
around $600,000 to cut. 1
Using its in-house 3DXTech Gearbox HT2 3D printer
to produce single-piece FDM prototypes, the final design
was then reengineered to make it easier to manufacture
using injection moulding.
“We went through that whole process so that, when we
engage with our toolmakers, we understand, ‘Can we
get this undercut?’, and ‘Can we do all these things?’”
explains Page. “When you get into mass production, we
have to go to injection moulding.”
The innovation doesn’t end with the tooling. Pexco has
a long history of polymers development, creating unique
formulas to match every part’s niche requirements and
enabling them to fully pass strenuous FAA testing.
“The requirements are a lot higher for fire protection,
and it has to be lightweight, but also incredibly durable.
So, it’s not like a standard type of plastic. It’s very
specialised,” says Page. That’s why Pexco invests in
technology and personnel to be able to produce its own 2
highly customisable substrates for plastics, giving it
market agility.
For AirShield, this means Pexco was able to add an
anti-bacterial additive to the polymer — important,
given its function and position in the cabin. “Because if
[passengers] see it, they’re going to touch it!” laughs Page.
“Even though they can’t really adjust it, they’re gonna see
something new!”

FANTASTIC PLASTIC
The supply chain challenges of recent years have seen
Pexco move further into specialty polymer production,
says Page.
“We’re seeing air people calling us daily asking us if
we’ve got 200lb of this, or 800lb of this, or 1,000lb of this.
And it’s been very interesting; we’ve ended up becoming
like a distributor of plastics by accident because of supply
chain challenges.” 3
This knowledge has stood Pexco in good light, both with
customers who want the lightest possible product, and
with testing authorities that need it to meet key safety it has full FAA approval – but once AirShield achieves
standards. this (and at the time of writing, it was at the penultimate
“We know what makes it lightweight, but it also has stage), then it is expected that take-up will be swift as
to perform in the burn and the durability tests. We can carriers look to enhance the onboard experience and give
make this AirShield bulletproof, but it would weigh six improved air-quality assurances to passengers. ●1 AirShield creates

pounds and fall off the ceiling,” states Page.
The production AirShield will weigh under a pound, but
is remarkably durable. “We’ve looked at a lot of different
technologies for this in the future, to where maybe we can
make it lighter by putting some recycled carbon fibre in
and some other things, but right now, it’s about getting it
The use of AirShield, after all, is a powerful indicator an individual
protective air barrier
that a carrier is doing everything it can to make journeys for each passenger
as safe as possible — a bit like the plastic barriers that
●2 Each part must be
separate staff and customers in a bank or supermarket. capable of passing
“There’s a visual cue that this company is concerned with stringent FAA tests
what’s going on,” says Page. And that will be a valuable ●3 Pexco has included

certified and getting it on aeroplanes.” reassurance for passengers, many of whom may be an anti-bacterial
additive to the
Page remarks that aerospace is an extremely embarking on their first trip for some years. polymer used to build
conservative industry – nobody wants to be the first until www.flyairshield.com AirShield

36 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

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company
Mark Brouwers, Software Engineer - LAG Tailers

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p13_D3D_AUGSEPT22_ads.indd 1 09/08/2022 17:00

 PICKING UP
During the century, some high-profile designs suffered cataclysmic
failures as a result of naturally occurring frequencies not being
calculated, says Laurence Marks. While we have the tools to calculate
them today, some engineers still overlook this issue, he warns

R
ecently, I had the chance to catch up with so. All structures have a resonant or natural frequency. Laurence Marks built
a friend who was an aerospace engineer in In fact, they generally have quite a few, and these are a his first FEA model
in the mid-1980s and
the 1960s. He worked on some incredible property – just like mass, colour or surface finish. You his first CFD model in
projects, such as the Apollo programme don’t have to do anything to the object for it to have a the early 1990s. Since
and the F105 Thunderchief supersonic natural frequency, and it’s a metric that can be quite then, he’s worked in
the simulation industry,
fighter-bomber. easily calculated. in technical, support
As he recounted over drinks, if bombs from the F105 Or at least, it can if you’ve got a finite element analysis and management
were dropped even slightly out of sync – measured in (FEA) programme. roles. He is currently a
visiting research fellow
mere hundredths of a second – a vibration was initiated Degree-level engineering courses spend a good deal of at Oxford Brookes
that rapidly grew in magnitude through the body of the time taking students through how to calculate the natural University, involved
plane, until it reached a level forcing the pilot to bailout. frequency of a spring/mass system. And I’ve probably in a wide range of
simulation projects,
This, for me at least, is the new physics textbook spent too long here talking about how finite element some of which are
classic, overtaking the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, where models are essentially elaborate arrays of springs. focused on his two
miscalculated vibrations tore the suspension bridge So, if we add a representation of the mass to our array main areas of interest:
life sciences and
apart, causing it to collapse into the ocean in 1940. of springs, the natural frequencies can these days be
motorsports
I haven’t written much about dynamics in these articles, extracted from the whole thing, if not with ease, then at
but this conversation reminded me that I ought to do least with speed.

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P FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED
For lots of design scenarios, this is critically important
information. Knowing at what frequency things will kick
off – like an F105 dropping its bomb load asymmetrically
or a bridge in Washington State with a curious
relationship between its natural frequency and the airflow
over its deck – is pretty important. The solution will also
give you a mode shape, or a series of mode shapes, which
correspond to the natural frequencies.
Armed with this information, modifying the design
to shift frequency away from the troublesome range
becomes an intuitive process. It should be a basic part of
every design process – but it almost certainly isn’t.
Which brings me neatly to what happens when the
world around our design or machine starts getting
involved. In the real world, for the dynamics to reveal
themselves, something has to be putting energy into
the system and, to some extent, there will also be energy
escaping the system: excitation and damping.
Generally, it’s easier to assess the first than the
second, though both can be added to finite element
studies. At this point, the game gets a lot more serious.
Earthquakes, industrial machinery and lots of other
forcing functions can all be modelled. However,
damping remains a problem, because it’s the dissipation
of energy, and it takes many forms – friction in joints,
p38_39_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Laurence.indd 39
When designing
structural components,
it’s important to
consider how energy
from the operating
environment, such as
external airflows, can
excite the vibrational
response [Credit: Cadence
and Bombardier]
heat generated as material is deformed, and so on.
‘‘
There are many ways energy leaves the system, one being
by moving around the fluid surrounding the object. Which
Modifying a
takes us back to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, because not design to shift
only will fluid damp the vibrations, it can also excite them. If frequency
the natural frequency and the flow transients are at the same away from the
frequency, the results can be ‘exciting’, to say the least.
If we want to simulate the problem, we enter the world of troublesome
closely coupled multiphysics. Twenty years ago, there was range should
plenty of talk about multiphysics and FSI. So by now, you be a basic
might expect it to have become commonplace. But it hasn’t.
So why isn’t fully coupled CFD and structural FEA a
part of
regular thing in the world of simulation? In some places, every design
it plainly is, but it’s not exactly run of the mill in everyday process — but
simulation workflows, even given the huge increases in it almost
compute power now available to everyone, either on their
desktop or in the cloud.
certainly isn’t
Like so many simulation holy grails, usage may well
be restricted to those people with a combination of
’’
big budgets, big problems and a pretty comprehensive
understanding of the physics involved. That would
certainly describe the designers of the Century Series jets
(including the F105) back in the day. But even here and
now, we get regular reminders of what can go wrong in
design when vital calculations get neglected – not least
with this Formula 1 season’s ‘porpoising’ cars.
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 39
09/08/2022 12:08
 Sponsored content
ICON BRINGS VINTAGE
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An interview with Jonathan Ward, CEO of ICON,
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By: Heather Miller
Who doesn’t look twice when a vintage car drives
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“In the early 2000s, we were seeing a huge
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But once owners really drive them, it’s an entirely
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Ward used his passion for automotive design to
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pXX_XX_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Autodesk V2.indd 2
some of the most creative vehicles in the world. Ward
builds each ICON vehicle with a mixture of vintage
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Merging modern tastes with
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Ward wanted to bring the “heart and soul” of vintage
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“I wanted to truly evolve the user experience way
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Ward previously had years of experience
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center. In partnership with his wife, they founded
ICON. Since its early days, the company has
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TR uses a 1947-53 Chevy Pick-Up, and the ICON
BR begins with a 1966-1975 Ford Bronco.
“We recycle the vintage vehicle, and the original
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our concept cars are scratch-built vehicles.”
Getting started with Fusion 360
Of course, technology is a key component to the
design and manufacturing of these unique vehicles.
Ward’s introduction to Autodesk Fusion 360 was
unusual — it all started with his son’s passion for
05/08/2022 12:07

robotics in junior high school and an Instagram post.
“My son was really interested in pursuing a career
in mechanical engineering,” Ward says. “I asked
about it on our Instagram account and the responses
were amazing. Autodesk was one of them.”
After a trip to the Autodesk Technology Center
San Francisco and getting a glimpse at Fusion 360
back in 2016, Ward was excited to see how he
could begin to incorporate it into his work. “We were
getting pretty frustrated with Solidworks,” he says.
As Fusion 360 grew as a product and its capabilities
expanded over the years, Ward was able to include
it more and more throughout his design and
manufacturing processes. Now, Fusion 360 is the go-
to for a variety of components—whether it’s knobs,
steering wheels, handles, grills, panels, you name it.
Moving forward with
new projects and Fusion 360
Throughout the pandemic, ICON has been as busy as
ever with multiple jobs. Like most industries, they’re
still feeling the pinch of supply chain issues, tracking
down the right materials, and labour shortages.
pXX_XX_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Autodesk V2.indd 3
Sponsored content
There are so many
functionalities for
different utilities we need.
It’s all in one package
with Fusion 360. I can’t
think of a competing
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comes close to that —
Jonathan Ward, CEO, ICON
But Ward is continuing to innovate and dream
big with Fusion 360. Right now, he’s looking into
retrofitting EV systems into their internal combustion
engine intended platforms.
He’s thinking ahead to his next venture, too.
After designing a watch in Fusion 360 a few
years ago, he’s now using the software in another
unconventional way. This time it’s for handcrafted
leather goods.
According to Ward, the leather goods industry is
rife with paper-based processes and workflows.
With Fusion 360, he can both protect his IP
and easily produce one-to-one scale PDFs for
manufacturing.
At the end of the day, Ward can use Fusion 360 for
ICON or wherever his next passion project takes him.
“There are so many functionalities for different
utilities we need,” he says. “It’s all in one package
with Fusion 360. I can’t think of a competing
product in the space that comes close to that.”
Learn more about Fusion 360 here:
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/
05/08/2022 12:07
 talking heads
IAN PENDLEBURY
FUSION 360
VP OF ENGINEERING
AUTODESK
Time stands still for no one and
certainly for no design tool. We
asked executives from leading
companies in the market, plus
some more recent entrants, for
their opinions on the development
of CAD, from initial concepting Q : How do you imagine sketch
tool environments evolving?
workflows to the impact of artificial
A : As cloud-powered CAD
intelligence. How can we keep our becomes more prevalent and its
AI capabilities more accessible,
software up to date? the need to define a design
via sketches is giving way to
describing the requirements
and receiving design
suggestions from the computer,
taking a multitude of factors
into consideration.
The computer is beginning
traditional process needs to
persist, so we don’t see it going
away anytime soon. Instead,
we expect to continue seeing a
hybrid set of offerings.
Q : How do you view the
increase in AI impacting design
tools the most?
A : In the very short term,
AI will get much better at
quickly and naturally making
design suggestions to a CAD
user that are close to what that
person would otherwise create
on their own.
One example we are working
on will automate the time-
consuming process of creating
a 2D drawing from a 3D CAD
model. Machine learning will
look at how a designer typically
dimensions similar parts and
automatically create a drawing
that is very close to what that
designer would likely draw.

‘‘
AI will get much better at quickly making
design suggestions that are close to what a CAD
user might create on their own
’’
to offer design suggestions Q : When will CAD software
that balance all the design be able to take advantage of
requirements. For the first modern graphics APIs for
time, CAD is truly becoming better 3D performance and
computer aided. advanced features like GPU ray
tracing?
Q : Downloading regular
updates to a 3D CAD package is A : We are actively working on
more common – is this the way adopting USD (Universal Scene
all 3D CAD is now heading? Description) and the USD
READ OUR PANELLISTS’ Hydra rendering framework,
ANSWERS IN FULL AT A : While we see great benefits which are fast becoming
■ www.develop3d.com/cad/the-future-of-cad to all users being on the same industry standards, into Fusion
cloud-powered, up-to-date, 360. USD is all about incredible
always-on version of a 3D performance through heavy use
CAD package, there are also of multithreading and GPUs.
instances where the more ■ www.autodesk com

42 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

p42_43_44_45_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Talking_HeadsV2.indd 42 10/08/2022 13:42


MANISH KUMAR
CEO SOLIDWORKS
DASSAULT SYSTÈMES
Q : How do you imagine sketch
tools evolving?
A : There are new design
workflows that are evolving
where sketching is becoming
less important.
Two essentially sketch-less
workflows are the use of direct
edit methods for the reuse and/
or modification of existing
components, and the adoption
of Sub-D modelling.
One very important workflow
where sketching is evolving is in
the reuse of freehand sketches,
ink, or imagery as the starting
point or reference for designs.
Making use of existing artwork
to create sketch entities will be
a great time saver for industrial
designers.
You can also expect to see
the increasing use of AI to
anticipate the needs of the
user during repetitive tasks
and recognise the recreation of
similar sketches, by dissecting
past designs and automatically
notifying users that a very
similar sketch already exists.
‘‘
3D has been democratised to the point
that it has become a universal language to
collaborate and share ideas
’’
p42_43_44_45_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Talking_HeadsV2.indd 43
Q : How do you view the
increase in AI impacting design
tools the most?
A : We have to recognise that
the CAD design process can
include repetitive, boring tasks.
We see AI playing a huge role
in augmenting a designer’s
workflows by carrying out
mundane tasks, freeing up time
to be creative.
Browser-based tools in 3D
Creator, 3D SheetMetal Creator,
and 3D Sculptor have AI-
based Design Assistants built
into them. Machine learning
algorithms learn from the way
the user designs and reduces
or automates repetitious
tasks, such as selecting edges,
inserting mates, or predicting
new sketch entities and giving
users an option to insert them
automatically.
Q : How do you imagine the
users of your software will
change and how do you see this
impacting the software?
A : Today 3D has been
democratised to the point
that it has become a universal
language to collaborate and
share ideas between all age
groups and geographies. It is
no longer just about providing
a product, but also delivering a
great experience around this – it
must be aesthetically pleasing,
reliable, robust, and perform
well during regular use.
■ www.3ds.com
TALKING HEADS
STEPHANOS ANDROUTSELLIS-
THEOTOKIS CO-FOUNDER &
SENIOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
PHENOMETRY
expected to complete the current
operation and what the current
options are help guide the user
and reduce their cognitive load.
Q : Will all 3D CAD rely on
OTA updates, or will annual
releases and standalone
products manage to survive?
A : While there is still wide use
of standalone products, the shift
towards cloud-based benefits is
Q : How do you imagine sketch clear and irreversible. No one
tool environments evolving? enjoys the overheads incurred by
downloading updates, installing
A : Browser-based collaboration them and making sure nothing
will definitely play an clashes or breaks. Similarly, a
important role. Google Docs- fully cloud-based CAD software
style collaboration tools have product vendor doesn’t have to
already been adopted by worry about multiple platform
major CAD software such as compatibility, system issues or
‘‘
Advanced gestures, touchscreens and more
direct interaction with the model are key for a
more intuitive user experience
’’
Onshape, allowing their users have to maintain countless code
to interact and collaborate branches for each version or
with each other on shared platform.
documents, while at the same
time reaping the benefits of Q : How do you imagine the
behind-the-scenes updates. users of your software will
change and how do you see this
Q : How do you imagine impacting the software?
designers will interact with
CAD UIs in the future? A : We think digital innovative
design tool use is going to reach
A : It’s high time that CAD UIs significantly more users in the
moved away from countless next few years, with products that
huge menus with items and are easy to use and have sharing
sub-items that users need to and collaboration capabilities
spend a lot of time memorising. being significantly favoured.
Advanced gestures, Phi’s architecture
touchscreens, and more direct approach to freeform modelling
and
interaction with the model are were designed with the above in
key for a more intuitive user mind, so the software can cope
experience. Constant, non- with a wide range of users.
obtrusive feedback on what is ■ www.phi3d.com
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 43
10/08/2022 13:42
 talking heads

JAY TEDESCHI ISTVAN CSANADY

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT CEO
PRINCIPAL, ONSHAPE SHAPR3D
PTC
with it and with others using it. Q : How do you imagine the
For users who have spent a users of your software will
career using more traditional change and how do you see this
file-based systems, the transition impacting the software?
to these tools is more of a
philosophical change than A : I believe that accessing
anything else. This subset CAD will not be a privilege of a
of users quickly sees the small, highly trained group of
advantages of working with engineers, but it will become
these new tools once they a tool that all stakeholders
overcome their initial resistance can access.
to adopting this new way of For designing, reviewing,
interacting with both design data
Q : Downloading regular and design team members
updates to a 3D CAD package is
more common – is this the way Q : How do you view the
‘‘
CAD doesn’t need to be clumsy and fragile. It’s
all 3D CAD is now heading? increase in AI impacting design only like that because legacy CAD companies
tools the most?
A : To some degree, almost all are still building software like they did in the
vendors now supply their users A : We feel that one of the 1990s. It’s time to change that
with hotfixes/updates between strongest uses of AI is in
major releases. What we can areas of the product which are ’’
say is that Onshape’s full SaaS typically not considered when Q : How do you imagine conceptualising, collaborating,
implementation means that discussing AI as a design tool designers will interact with prototyping and manufacturing
Onshape users do not have to aid. As a full SaaS/Cloud native CAD UIs in the future? – all stakeholders will be able to
deal with product downloads, product, Onshape can compile use the same design platform in
installations or updates. data about not only how the A : Touch and stylus is a more the future.
product is being used, but also natural and often faster way New generations of CAD
Q : How do you imagine the how effectively it is running on to use a CAD system than users expect their software to
users of your software will a specific network, on a specific a keyboard and a mouse. be accessible across different
change and how do you see this server, at certain times, with The only thing that could be devices: they want an equally
impacting the software? certain traffic, and so on. even more natural is a well- great mobile and desktop
All of that information designed AR or VR experience, experience. Consumer-grade
A : For a generation of users can then be analysed and which is something that still usability and accessibility of
well-versed with collaborative development decisions made belongs to the future. software is a basic expectation,
applications, Onshape is in response to the data. This not just a gimmick.
one more tool that leverages promises to have a much Q : Downloading regular Legacy CAD companies are
this familiar paradigm. The larger impact overall on user updates to a 3D CAD package is having a tough time adapting to
fact that it is a design and productivity than just the more common – is this the way this tectonic shift in customer
engineering tool becomes current implementations. all 3D CAD is now heading? expectations.
secondary to how they interact ■ www.onshape.com
A : The truth is that CAD is Q : When will CAD software
just a piece of software like any be able to take advantage
‘‘
Users quickly see the advantages of working
other software.
It doesn’t need to be clumsy
of modern graphics APIs
for better 3D performance
and fragile - it’s only like that and advanced features like
with new tools once they overcome their initial because legacy CAD companies GPU ray tracing?
resistance to adopting new ways of interacting are building software like
with design data and design team members they did in the 1990s and their A : Well, Shapr3D already does
’’ customers are suffering from
those obsolete practices. It’s
and will do even more, but I
can’t talk about that just yet!
time to change that. ■ www.shapr3d.com

44 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

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 TALKING HEADS

2022

PAUL BROWN
SENIOR MARKETING DIRECTOR, THIS NOVEMBER
PRODUCT ENGINEERING SOFTWARE
SIEMENS
CAD, being able to say, ‘have
MEET THOSE
I got anything similar?’
instead of ‘Shape Search’,
makes it easier for users to
SHAPING THE
get more from their systems -
no searching for file names
or icons.
FUTURE OF CAD
NX Voice Assistant uses
Microsoft cognitive services
to allow users to drive NX and
increase productivity.

Q : How do you view the

Q : How do you imagine sketch increase in AI impacting design

3
tool environments evolving? tools the most?

A : We have been employing A : The use of machine

AI to help remove the need for
the user to predefine the rules
and constraints, finding and
implying them at the time of
edit without forcing the user
to do the work. This makes
sketching far more flexible, and
faster for doing initial design
studies and concepts.
learning and artificial
intelligence will have a massive stream
conference
impact on making it more
productive for users to use
CAD tools, having systems
that can learn and promote
best practice from power
users and have that knowledge
shared around an organisation REGISTER

FREE
This approach allows people delivers massive benefits.

‘‘
The future for AI will see it expanding
to offer more help and advice to users
in design decisions, acting as a support develop3dlive.com
for choices in design
’’
to think about what they want The future for AI will see it
to create rather than trying to expanding to offer more help
battle with rules or constraints. and advise users in design
decisions, acting as a support
Q : How do you imagine for choices in design. 1 November

2022
designers will interact with Areas like generative
CAD UIs in the future? engineering opens more
opportunities to use AI to help,
A : New approaches such as advise and learn, doing rapid
voice are beginning to break design iterations automatically,
through. Using voice and increasing use of AI in this
cognitive services allows you area will help based tools University of
to drive CAD commands using helping engineers make better Sheffield
natural language, freeing the decisions faster.
user from having to speak ■ www.sw.siemens.com

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 45

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 FEATURE

46 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

p46_47_48_49_50_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Jewel.indd 46 05/08/2022 12:02

 JEWEL IN
THE CROWN
Blending new technologies and
ancient traditions isn’t easy. Claudia
Schergna talks to jewellery designers
looking to make their industry faster
and greener and their products more
tailored to customer demand

‘‘
For me, it only makes sense
to use 3D printing if you can
express the full potential of
the technology
’’

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 47

p46_47_48_49_50_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Jewel.indd 47 05/08/2022 12:02

 FEATURE

S
ince the dawn of time, humans in jewellery design for a very practical reason: resizing his
have adorned their bodies. To do so, wife’s wedding ring so she could wear it when her fingers
they have used the materials and got swollen during pregnancy.
technologies available to them: from His wife loved the ring and he loved designing it. When
stone and bone, to gemstones, to he decided to start making jewellery for a living, he didn’t
today’s 3D printing and CAD. abandon his engineer mindset and kept practicality at the
Digital technologies are now a forefront of his mind: “While designing my first few pieces
powerful asset in the jewellery of jewellery, I realised that a perfect size ring is a concept,
industry, but most designers are still because a ring must pass over the middle of the finger,
keen to maintain history and tradition. As a result, a lot which is bigger than the final place on the finger for a ring.”
of modern jewellery aims to blend centuries-old methods This was the start of Abrazo Fit, a collection of
with digital innovation, while making the industry faster, stretchable rings designed to adapt to bodies that change
more sustainable and accessible. with age, pregnancy, arthritis and temperature.
Take the example of lost wax casting: introduced in “Abrazo is a term used in tango dancing and it means to
around 2,000BC, it remains one of the most widely embrace — the perfect amount of pressure and tension
applied technologies in jewellery design. But these days, exerted by two dancers while they embrace, and the
hand-sculpted models are replaced by 3D printing in elegance comes into play,” explains Riaz.
materials that have the same melting point as wax. To create Abrazo, Riaz spent three years researching
Such advancements enable jewellers to speed up and and testing several technologies: “The most challenging
simplify production, without their workflows turning it and difficult part to achieve is to make all gaps between
upside-down. That’s certainly the case for award-winning, the individual pieces truly even. The ring should not even
third-generation jeweller Christian Tse, who represents look like it’s expandable. It should look and feel elegant,
in his style and workflow the meeting point between not bulky and thick.”
Alberto Ghiradello high-tech equipment and tradition. Having worked Riaz’s workflow starts with a pencil-on-paper sketch:
●1 ●
5 ●4 ●6 ●7 ●8 ●
10 ●
15
in his family business since the age of 12, he is both “This starting point takes me to where I need to get more
●
18 ●
19 ●
20 ●
23 ●
24
knowledgeable about the engineering behind jewellery specific with dimensions and tolerances. That’s when I
●
4 The Synapses
and excited about where new technologies can take it. know what needs to be added on top of the skeletal idea.
collection was designed
by Ghirardello for the When starting a new project, Tse likes to first come There is no better way to do this than in CAD software.”
online store Cyrcus up with a pencil and paper sketch. From there, it is When he started designing jewellery, he would use
Design and is 3D printed
on demand in either
translated into CAD, so that any mechanical movement SketchUp, but these days, he is constantly switching
nickel-plated steel or can be simulated and the final product can be visualised. between Rhino and Matrix: “The most favourite feature
gold-plated steel. “It helps us perfect the design before manufacturing so that CAD gives me is the ability to see my idea in 360
●
8 The Sunrise that it will move well and wear well,” he explains. degrees, including close-ups and far away. I can check
collection was designed The CAD model is then 3D printed in wax and cast in the tolerances and gaps and translate instantly if it’ll be
by Ghirardello for the
silver, with the finished article having passed through possible to make that precise shape or form before even
collection is available
on the online platform
the skilled hands of at least six tradespeople: a CAD getting started with the process.”
Septem, both in the technician, a caster, a jeweller, a setter, a polisher, and a
metal and the plastic quality assurance expert. THE ‘PHY-GITAL’ APPROACH
version, and is 3D
A partnership with Desktop Metal has given Tse the The use of 3D printing and CAD in jewellery design isn’t
printed on demand
using SLS or SLA 3D chance to integrate direct metal 3D printing into his only revolutionising processes and workflows. It also
printers workflow using 925 sterling silver. The material is now has the potential to radically transform the experience of
qualified for Desktop Metal’s large-format Production designing, selling, buying and wearing jewellery.
Zoe Sherwood
●
12 ●21 Sherwood’s ‘Save System platform. Support for other precious metal alloys, Additive manufacturing offers the possibility to
Earth’ collection is 3D including 18K yellow gold, is being developed. print jewellery in-house, reducing transport costs and
printed using Fishy Direct metal 3D printing can be very expensive, especially producing strictly on-demand parts with no waste.
Filament material and
sold at Selfridges for pieces that are not mass-produced. However, Tse This is the idea behind Imageneria, the ‘phy-gital’
and his team feel it is an investment worth making: platform for 3D-printable NFTs. Designers all around
Tariq Riaz “We foresee direct 3D printing will overtake casting. the world can upload their designs as STL files or NFTs
●
9 ● 11 ●
13 ~●
14 ●
16 ●
22
Powder manufacturing is key in direct printing. As more and, after a selection and revision phase, customers can
●
11 3D printing changed
companies adopt this 3D printing technology, cost savings purchase and print them at home, or even use them in
the game for Riaz, as
it allows him to quickly will be achieved when the company sees the advantages.” the Metaverse.
print resin prototypes of A relatively more traditional approach is offered by the
his designs and visualise FASTER AND EASIER PROTOTYPING Japanese platform Septem, which allows designers to
them at an early stage
of the process 3D printing remains key for prototyping, helping upload their projects in the same way, which are then
designers visualise what they are working on and printed and shipped to customers on-demand.
●
22 Riaz designed the
Abrazo collection of allowing them to share a tangible model with customers The Milan-based designer Alberto Ghirardello has been
stretchable rings, for before production begins. designing for both platforms, as well as for other brands
bodies that change
with age, pregnancy,
Jewellery designer Tariq Riaz explains that, at the that commissioned him to make 3D-printed pieces of
arthritis and beginning of his career, he would use clay or wood to make jewellery.
temperature models. But the process took so long that, by the time it He is currently collaborating with the Italian fashion
was finished, he had often lost interest in the original idea. design brand Maison 203, a project that will see him
Christian Tse
●2 ●3 ●17 Thanks to “3D printing changed the game for me,” he says, realise a collection of 3D-printed chains for necklaces,
Desktop Metal, Tse explaining that it allows him to send an STL file to his rings and bracelets.
has integrated direct desktop 3D printer and, within a few hours, hold the In his workflow, 3D printing plays a central role in
metal 3D printing into
his workflow using 925 physical design in his hands. two different stages: first in prototyping, and then in
sterling silver A former mechanical engineer, Riaz started his career manufacturing. “First, I draw something in CAD and

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 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 49

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 FEATURE

‘‘
We foresee direct 3D printing
will overtake casting. As
more companies adopt this
technology, cost savings will
be achieved
’’
25

print a rough prototype in a filament printer. Then I work

on it again and print the final piece of jewellery most of
the time with a powder bed printer, SLS or SLA.”
What is particularly important for Ghirardello is thinking
of 3D printing not only as a manufacturing tool but as
an artistic choice. “It’s a shame to use 3D printing just to
make objects that could be made with other technologies,
because most of the time, those other technologies would
be cheaper. For me, it only makes sense to use 3D printing
if you can express its full potential.”
To do that, Ghirardello has come up with a collection
of chains for Maison 203 called Molecular. “[AM] is one
of the few technologies that allow having elements that
embed in one another, like a chain.” 26
Traditionally a chain is produced by creating many round
shapes of the same size, with a small cut on one end which
is then welded manually by the jeweller. This process can
be enormously simplified by employing 3D printing,
which can efficiently nest multiple pieces into one build.
“What makes 3D printing expensive is the quantity
of material needed and the printing time,” explains
Ghirardello. “But very often, the material quantity is
derisory, so what makes the difference is how many
pieces you can fit in the printing area and how much time
you can save by doing that.”

NON-TRADITIONAL MATERIALS
Metals, resins and nylon are no longer the only materials
for jewellers to choose from. Experimentation in that
field has grown exponentially in recent years and AM is
facilitating it.
London-based designer and artist Zoe Sherwood has
created a line of jewellery based on self-empowerment
and climate change awareness, which she 3D printed
with a filament made out of waste fishing nets.
Her supplier here is Cornwall-based Fishy Filaments,
which produces recycled nylon filaments (also known
as PA6) specifically for 3D printing. “The owner Ian is
fantastic. He can basically tell you the harbour and the
boat that the nets are from,” says Sherwood.
“Fishing nets only last a matter of months before they
have to be renewed, so there is an abundance of them,”
she explains. “Over 56% of the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch is made up of fishing gear.”
Beyond allowing her to use fully recycled materials,
3D printing also offers Sherwood the opportunity to
make her pieces more accessible and available for her
27
into it: “I was always told computers love straight edges
and squares. All of my edges are rounded, delicate and
detailed, which is an ongoing challenge in FDM printing.
As I strive to create pieces with longevity and out of 100%
recycled materials, this is at the forefront of my current
and future narrative.”
One of the biggest challenges is achieving quality and
consistency with the prints: “It’s so small, you can see
everything, so I hand-finish and check every piece. If
it’s not up to my high standards, it will go back to Fishy ●
25 ●26 Christian Tse
Filament to be shredded down and made into filament starts every project
again. I love that the process is circular.” with a pencil-and-
paper sketch which is
Beyond making the process more sustainable and then translated into
accessible, AM is enabling a full industry transformation. CAD for visualisation
Whether we’ll start wearing recycled materials instead and simulation
of gold and diamonds, or print jewellery at home, or buy ●
27 Tse’s workflow

customers. Her wordy pieces of jewellery used to be it for our avatars in the metaverse, remains to be seen. But then goes on to either
3D print casts, or
handmade from millinery materials that could take days we can be sure that the industry will keep innovating and manufacture the
to make. 3D printing allows her to produce more pieces transforming, without forgetting the centuries of history piece of jewellery
and sell them at a more accessible price. and tradition that brought it to where it stands today. employing direct
metal 3D printing
She admits she was surprised by the possibilities www.tariqriaz.com | www.christiantse.com provided by Metal
that the technology could offer when she first looked www.zoesherwood.co.uk | www.albertoghirardello.com Desktop technology

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 INTERVIEW
AHEAD IN THE
Software, automation and the cloud are
all set to play huge roles in the future
of manufacturing. Stephen Holmes
speaks with Oqton CEO Ben Schrauwen
about how the company is bringing
together different production software
tools within the 3D Systems portfolio,
in order to help designers get the best
out of existing manufacturing set-ups
52 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p52_53_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Oqton.indd 52
T
he acquisition of Oqton by 3D Systems
last year caused a stir, as many feared the
former’s impressive brand-agnostic, cloud-
based Manufacturing Operating System
(MOS) might disappear into the closed shop
of 3D System’s technology stack.
The acquisition transpired to be part of a wider change
in positioning for the 3D printing giant. The days of
3D Systems protecting its nascent IP for prototyping
technology have made way for end-part production
technology, ready to be used in diverse shop floor
environments.
“It’s much more often used in heterogeneous
environments. You need to make the shift to being open,
and interestingly, the 3D Systems leadership team is
now really pushing for that openness – openness for
materials, openness for software, openness for machine
08/08/2022 13:04
HE CLOUDS
platforms,” says Ben Schrauwen, CEO of Oqton, which
proudly continues to operate under its own banner and
remains open to most 3D printing systems.
That brand now includes all of 3D Systems’ software
products from prior acquisitions: from Geomagic’s
reverse engineering and digital sculpting platform, added
back in February 2013, through to Amphyon, bought as
recently as May 2021, for SLS build simulation. In short,
the portfolio holds a striking range of technologies.
Schrauwen excitedly points out that these fractured
tools are now being brought together as a more coherent
package, one that is leading the new era of 3D Systems’
openness and expansion.
“In the past, for example, 3DSprint was only for 3D
Systems polymer machines; 3DXpert was only for 3D
Systems metal machines. We’re taking those products
and really allowing them to be used on any type of
equipment – particularly with 3DXpert, the one we’re
focusing on first,” he says, explaining that support is
now added for systems from Trumpf, SLM Solutions,
Renishaw and more.
To maintain this neutrality, Schrauwen says a data
firewall between Oqton and the rest of 3D Systems has
been erected, giving external OEMs reassurance when
cooperating with its team of over 300 experienced staff on
developing manufacturing software.
BRIDGING THE GAP
Having previously worked at Autodesk, Schrauwen is
aware of the trend to package CAD software with other
tools, such as CAM and CAE. But he feels that this doesn’t
really solve a fundamental issue with manufacturing: that
production realities are often very different from what
engineers have in their minds. “And so one of the reasons
I left Autodesk is really to work on this vision, where in
my mind, engineering tools need to be much more closely
connected to the production reality,” he says.
The Oqton CEO explains that the first step needed is
to capture the production state, “which is really three
different systems combined.”
These include: an MOS that captures what the operators
are doing and their training levels; the IoT platform and
what the machines are doing; and quality management.
“These three things together really represent the current
state of the production environment,” he says.
Oqton’s slick additive manufacturing automation
solution has expanded to production technologies like
CNC machining and welding robots, says Schrauwen.
“Those are two different manufacturing technologies,
where we also demonstrated that AI can lead to 100%
p52_53_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Oqton.indd 53
automated preparation of these technologies, all from the
‘‘
Changing
core Oqton MOS.”
This knowledge can be used at the earliest stages of
bits is easy,
the development process, allowing teams to design changing atoms
parts that their existing production environments can is really hard.
support. “That’s the underlying agenda. That’s what I’m So changing
working towards and that’s why I call it a Manufacturing
Operating System. Everything needs to be centred around
your production
this production capability,” states Schrauwen. environment is
“Changing bits is easy, changing atoms is really hard. really difficult
So, changing your production environment is really whereas, as
difficult, whereas as long as you can automate everything,
it’s much easier to change a design than it is to change long as you
your production environment,” he adds. can automate
“If you want to bring things to market more quickly, you everything, it’s
need to design for what you’re able to do today and not for
a hypothetical factory that you might have to build.”
much easier to
change a design
LEAVING LEGACY BEHIND
To enable this to work, Oqton has taken the existing ’’
3D Systems desktop software and added it to its cloud,
creating a connected platform.
“The expert user can still use the desktop tools, but they
are part of an automated workflow that we orchestrate
through the web platform,” says Schrauwen, adding that
the refresh has allowed for any poor legacy algorithms to
be left behind. “We’re really bringing them to the cloud
and turning them into services that allow us to automate
these processes much more significantly.”
The days of OEMs shunning the cloud are now over, he
says. As evidence, he points to the CIOs of automotive
giants like Volkswagen and BMW, who have flipped their
policies 180 degrees in as little as five years. “Cloud is
now the thing they want to deploy first, because they
understand that is the only thing long term that is
scalable and maintainable, and that will allow them to
innovate and move faster. And that’s what we’re really
seeing with Oqton. Everything – the whole spectrum – is
moving to the cloud.”
Of course, each industry has its own strict regulatory (Left) Oqton’s
Manufacturing
framework for compliance, and it takes a lot for Operating System is
software like Oqton to be able to operate within these designed to handle
mandates. But as Schrauwen says, it also solves many IT the automation
of manufacturing
management issues for companies that would otherwise workflows
have had to do it all in-house.
(Above) Ben
Speaking with Schrauwen, it’s clear that if automation Schrauwen is co-
is key to the future, then Oqton might hold the key founder and CEO
that opens the factory door to next-stage digital of Oqton, leading
its mission to
manufacturing. enable ‘self-driving’
www.oqton.com factories
DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 53
08/08/2022 13:04
 PROFILE
CUTTING THRO
THE COMPETIT
» Finding ways to outpace competitors is important. Stephen Holmes
visits Guhring UK to learn how adopting digital tools in-house has
reinforced its position as a market leader in precision cutting tools
G
uhring is a world-class producer
of precision cutting tools for
manufacturing – the types of cutting SolidWorks
and reaming tools used in CNC
machines to create end-use parts for now progressed to 3D
building other products.
The company offers customers
a huge range of mass-produced
tools, as well as custom-designed pieces built to exacting
specifications. In an increasingly competitive market,
the engineers at Guhring’s Specials Manufacturing
Centre in Birmingham, UK, realised the company
would need to innovate to maintain its position in the
industry. The team initially began 3D printing polymer
prototypes, which help guide customers during the
design process, checking for fit and increasing buy-in on
expensive or complicated projects.
54 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p54_55_56_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Guhring.indd 54
●1 At Guhring, initial Parts are designed by Guhring’s team, which works
3D CAD models alongside customers to produce tools capable of cutting
are produced in
the metal of particularly demanding features, or even
whole parts.
●2 The company has
An example might be found inside the cylinder head
printing tool bodies of an automotive engine, where valve seats are round
in metal and valve guides are long and thin. Guhring’s team can
develop a tool capable of machining both elements in
one machining ‘touch’, dramatically reducing the time
needed to produce a finished component.
After producing a 3D CAD model in Solidworks, the
design is 3D printed using Guhring’s Markforged Mark
Two 3D printer and shipped to the customer. With the
polymer prototype, the customer can better assess its
potential before committing to metal, even running it in
the machine spindle along the CAM-programmed path.
Should a plastic prototype collide in error, it simply
snaps – unlike a metal part, which might cause thousands
of pounds worth of damage. In this situation, the design
process would need to be restarted, with big implications
for development times and cost. Using plastic is believed
to save around six weeks of development time and the cost
of producing a full-metal tool.
However, Guhring felt it could do more with its 3D
printing technology. The team was already fans of the
company’s Markforged Mark 2, and were fully trained in
its Eiger build and process software, so they approached
reseller Mark3D to find out what else was possible.
CUT IT OUT
The steel blanks used to create custom tool bodies are
painstakingly machined in multiple stages. To these,
cutting tips are attached by a skilled Guhring employee,
hand-braising a slither of Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD)
into a machined pocket on the tool.
Mark3D proposed 3D printing a tool body in metal,
using a Markforged Metal X 3D printer. The Guhring
team was initially sceptical.
A prototype design was worked up in Solidworks, which
instantly got the development team thinking. The heat
1 generated by the machining process is what blunts tips, so
in Solidworks, the team was able to place coolant channels
10/08/2022 15:38
ROUGH ‘‘
We were delighted

ITION
that the tool was
able to exceed
everyone’s
expectations
’’

inside the 3D-printed tool body, directing coolant onto the

cutting surface in whatever configuration was needed and
prolonging the life of the tool.
The pockets for the PCD tips previously had to be
machined and were therefore curved. Now 3D printed
as right angles, these offered much better support for
the tip. Already accustomed to using the Eiger user
interface for the Mark 2 3D printer, the team used it to
further develop the tool design for the Metal X, assigning
extra wall thicknesses where the part would need to be
machined back to meet tolerances and adding a lattice
infill that reduced the part weight by nearly 40%.
The prototype part was sent to be 3D printed and post
processed at Mark3D on the Metal X, an FDM process
that prints a green part from filament, before it is post
processed and sintered.
For the Guhring prototype, the process means a 15-
hour print time, followed by post processing – a 12-hour
wash and four hours drying. Then, it is sintered in the
benchtop Markforged oven for 27 hours, resulting in a
99.89% solid metal part.
“What’s important to remember here is that Guhring is
one of the biggest sintering companies in the world,” says
Mark3D managing director Ian Weston, noting that it has
ovens so large that it drives forklift trucks into them. “So,
when we introduced the [Markforged sinter oven] to them
as a technology, they just smiled!”
With the PCD tips braised into place, it was time for
testing the part on a milling machine in front of the
Guhring team. The first test was over a favourable vertical
cutting path – drilling down into the stock material – and
it worked as well as a steel part.
Growing in confidence, they decided to pocket out a
hole, putting the tool under increased sideways load,
where any kicking could snap it. The tool continued to
work diligently, clearing material along its path. As a final
test, the operator cranked up the spindle speed as far as it
would go.
Everyone was over the moon, says Weston, given that
the tool survived, outperforming everyone’s expectations,
and making his client the first in the world to do this with 2
Markforged technology.

DEVELOP3D.COM AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 55

p54_55_56_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Guhring.indd 55 10/08/2022 15:38

 PROFILE

‘‘
Guhring is one of the
biggest sintering
companies in the world
and can drive forklifts
into them. So when we
first introduced the
desktop Markforged
sinter oven to them,
they initially just smiled
’’
(Above) Prototype
polymer tools built on
the Markforged Mark
Two 3D printer
(Below) Tool weight
is reduced by around
40%, allowing more
design freedom

CHANGING OPINIONS
All the Guhring staff still recall that first test as a
groundbreaking moment. Since then, the development
of further 3D-printed parts has been fast, with new
benefits being unearthed.
By reducing the weight by some 40%, there’s less
load on the machine tool, extending the life of the
CNC machine. Tool designs previously were capable
of machining 12 to 13 parts per hour now get through
40 parts and can still be returned to Guhring to be re-
tipped with new PCD, rather than needing an entirely
new tool, saving money and waste.
The H13 tool steel printed on the Metal X comes
out of the oven case-hardened, and early reports from
customers suggest that it lasts longer than machined
and heat-treated steels.
The ability to 3D print tools with more freedom means
that designs have become more elaborate. This includes
an incredible design for a drill that, due to a hollow
drum through its centre, automatically ejects the swarf
as it cuts it from inside of an engine cylinder.
Despite what appears on paper to be a long post
processing methodology to realise the final parts,
compared with traditional manufacturing, lead times
have dropped from over six weeks for a new tool, down
to a week or two.
Equally, R&D work is less costly and less error-prone,
giving the team confidence to try out new ideas.
Guhring’s custom work is winning back old clients
and drawing the attention of new ones, while helping
increase the visibility of the company’s existing
products and services across the board – all thanks to its
team being willing to pioneer a new technology to gain a
cutting edge.
www.guhring.co.uk

56 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM

p54_55_56_D3D_AUGSEPT22_Guhring.indd 56 10/08/2022 15:38

 Technology for the product lifecycle

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Mag subs inside D3D (PRINT).indd 1 04/08/2022 11:50

 LAST WORD
Lightweighting might be the focus
of major hype right now, but its
downstream impact promises to be
truly exciting, writes Stephen Holmes,
who’s admiring some lattices before
they get hidden from public view
L
ightweighting is currently a
sexy engineering topic, already
mentioned several times in
the pages of this issue. That’s
because designers have always
looked to use less material and make
products lighter — but the combination
of today’s optimisation technology and
additive manufacturing has thrown this
mission into overdrive. Everything must
be lighter, just like everything had to
be smaller in the 1990s, curvier in the
2000s and thinner in the 2010s.
In fact, ‘topology optimisation’ and
‘lattice infills’ are now terms you might
find in a review of a consumer product,
in much the same way as its author coos
over composites, user interfaces and
connectivity. Lattices are now much-hyped
features of shoes, saddles and car seats.
With their almost-but-
not-quite organic forms,
parts that are built  lighter robots use less
using simulation-driven
algorithms are visually
Some of the less
so outside of the current flashy uses of
norm that, whatever your lightweighting
thoughts on them in terms
of styling, there’s no are actually the
doubt they catch the eye. most impressive
But for me it’s all a
bit ‘Dieter’ — a case
and it’s exciting
of function over form. to think of the
That’s why some of impact they
the less flashy uses of
lightweighting are actually will have
the most impressive, and
it’s exciting to think of the
 of technology from
impact they will have.
LATTICES TAKE THE STRAIN
Take, for instance, the case of Guhring’s
drills, featured on p54. Here, a lattice-filled
design helps maintain the part strength,
but the resulting weight loss has even
greater impact downstream.
A lighter part puts less strain on the CNC
machine on which it’s used, meaning faster
machines operating at less stress. If this
58 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 DEVELOP3D.COM
p58_D3D_AUGSEP22_LastWord.indd 58
sort of tool body becomes commonplace,
it will in turn have an impact on CNC
machine makers, which could find that
they are able to reduce the material
needed to build machines, lowering costs.
One of my favourite recent uses of
lightweighting is to be found at Ocado
Engineering, the technology arm behind
the UK online grocery fulfilment company.
Earlier this year, the company
announced it had optimised the design of
its latest 600 Series robot, using HP 3D
printing to produce more than 300 of its
parts. As a result, the robot is five times
lighter, making it significantly faster at
picking up your avocados and sourdough,
and more cost-effective to manufacture
and run than previous models.
The downstream effects are that
the lighter robots make the planning
of Ocado’s fulfilment
sites easier. The
electricity, boosted by
reduced refrigeration
requirements, since faster
robots move products
around before they lose
their chill. The gantries
on which robots and
stock move can be lighter
too, meaning Ocado’s
warehousing operations
can move into a wider
variety of buildings.
While the trickle-down
Formula 1 cars to family
hatchbacks is a slow one
(aside from some dubious examples like
BMW’s topology optimised boot hinges),
agricultural and heavy machinery makers
are ahead of the curve.
If it’s traditionally big, heavy and
slow, then the performance benefits of
lightweighting are much greater than on
an already skinny supercar. And as long
as they maintain the necessary strength
to plough or shovel all day, then big lumps
like earthmovers and tractors get payoffs Lightweighting robots
that are measured in more than potatoes. at Ocado is set to
have a huge effect
on productivity and
HYPE AND HEYDEYS energy efficiency
Soon this ability to cut weight using (Credit: Ocado
innovative algorithms and additive Engineering)
processes will lose its novelty. We’ve seen
a similar change of image with 3D printing:
in its 2014 heyday, we were promised we’d
be 3D printing a spare kidney in time for the
weekend on our kitchen tables by now.
But today, 3D printing is working away
behind the scenes, helping manufacturers
to build custom jigs and fixtures on their
factory floors, saving them huge sums
of money in the process, and slowly
graduating to building end-use parts, as
calculations around cost, efficiency, quality
and assurance all begin to add up.
In a similar fashion, many of the great
successes of lightweighting are likely to be
hidden away from mainstream praise, all
the while contributing to better products.
So, while many of us flinch when looking
at optimised designs and naked lattices
laid bare for all to see (and a nightmare to
clean), we should probably be enjoying this
odd period in the timeline of design.
GET IN TOUCH: After managing an issue delving deep into
algorithmic design, Stephen will now return to renovating his
knackered 1870s house. If you hear anyone insisting “the Victorians
were great engineers”, then feel free to bring them round for a look.
On Twitter, he’s @swearstoomuch
09/08/2022 17:24
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