Unlock the true power of Additive Manufacturing

As Additive Manufacturing rapidly evolves in increased scalability and strategic possibilities, Manufacturing leaders in Aerospace & Defense seek to adopt additive manufacturing across their enterprise.  AM technology offers flexibility for the entire value chain. 

By leveraging the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform for AM, engineers can design and simulate highly optimized parts based on space allocation, loads, constraints, manufacturing processes. Engineers also consider multi-material requirements (polymers, metals, and engineered materials) and specialized 3D printers produce these optimized parts. And innovative aerospace companies ‘connect the dots’ by advancing the ability of teams across their enterprise to collaborate throughout the product development process in order to reap the full value that additive manufacturing has to offer.

How do companies increase the power of additive manufacturing from rapid prototyping to full-scale production?  Foundational blocks of technology, software and processes now support the momentum toward the mass production of parts using the additive process. Aerospace companies can produce large quantities of a standardized article using automated additive and subtractive processes. One of the key challenges in additive manufacturing is the ability to achieve standardization in terms of part quality. When manufacturers experience a large range of variability between builds, certification becomes a costly task since it’s heavily reliant on physical testing.

Simulating the additive manufacturing process is a key component for companies digitally transforming 3D printing to move to mass production. Indeed, accurate and scalable simulation allows the user to virtually explore all the machine parameters specified for a build, in order to understand what has the greatest impact on the part quality metrics of interest. 

The additive manufacturing simulation solutions from Dassault Systèmes have proven accuracy. Together with industrial partners, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has successfully predicted the mechanical properties of build parts utilizing unique metallurgical phase transformation capabilities.   

Sustainability has become a core value in the manufacturing industry. The nature of additive manufacturing (printing parts on-demand onsite) reduces need for tooling.  Reduced tooling means less material overall is required for production. Additionally, the layer-by-layer manner of fabrication uses significantly less material than traditional subtractive methods where components are formed by removing material from large blocks. Finally, additive manufacturing can be set up to produce anywhere. This simplifies the supplier network, lowers costs and reduces the environmental impact by lowering transportation emissions. 

To support additive manufacturing on a large scale, Dassault Systèmes created 3DEXPERIENCE® Marketplace to provide a seamless way to get parts made and collaborate with leading digital manufacturers worldwide. Now, companies can identify the best partner based on a project and part specifications. This includes maintaining full traceability for part development and production, essential for certification. Companies can streamline the collaboration process by leveraging collaboration, geometric compliance, and industrial standards.