Design for additively made parts has become a very hot topic. Many engineers see the potential for topology optimization when designing ALM parts, but once they start the workflow, they tend to get bogged down in how to complete the process.

1. Innovation Intelligence®
Design Methodologies for ALM and
Lattice parts
Blaise Cole – Application Engineer
October 8th 2015
Houston TX

2. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Overview
• Audience Questions
• Current ALM Activities
• ALM Overview
• Current Activities in Aerospace
• History of ALM in Aerospace
• Design for ALM Parts
• Efficient Workflow for ALM
• Future of Design/Analysis for ALM
• World Premier of Inspire 2016

3. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
General Conference Notes
• Follow us on Twitter and be our friend on Facebook
• Feel free to use any of the following #’s
• #AltairEngineering
• #ATCxHouston
• #Altair
• #LatticeOptimization
• #Inspire2016WorldPremier
• #ATCxBlewMyMind
• #HeavyOnOptimization

4. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Presentation Take-aways
• Do Additive, Do lots of it, and Do it now
• Current Design/Analysis workflow that is being used (successfully)

5. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Audience Questions
• Does your company have a 3D printer
• Do you currently use ALM for anything?
• Conceptual designs
• Tooling
• My design team has a 3D printer, and I buy a lot of plastic for it, and all they make
are an army of minions.
• Do you have the capability to print metallic parts?
• Do you currently use ALM for any PRODUCTION parts?
• Why not???

6. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Current Industry Issues with ALM
• Issue is NOT material properties
• Companies will do their own testing and qualification for materials anyways. Test pieces can be printed next to
the part so there is very good validation within the part
• Even though ALM is anisotropic process, using the smallest (most conservative) modulus will always provide
desired results
• Design rules
• Warpage for thin walls (length v. thickness)
• % factor that the part needs to be larger (easier to machine away, than add material)
• Overhang angle/support structures
• Build direction (weakest in the out-of-plane direction)
• Lattice
• Every printer is different, and every environment in each printer is different
• Determine how different printer settings affect the part
• Analysis of ALM parts
• Thermal/Residual stress
• Simulating at a “Slice Level”
• Simulating variations in the process
• Laser Temp, % voids, % unmelted, etc…
• Aerospace – Hand certification becomes very challenging
• Qualifying good candidates for ALM
• Inspection and Certification

7. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
ALM Overview
• Only 2 main methods have proven for consistent, quality production
• FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)
• Larger build volumes
• Faster
• Lots of Post-machining
• Additional design factors
• SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)
• Powder Bed
• Slower
• Much finer detail
• Control surface finish
http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2013/oct/images/640_3d-print-metal2.jpg
http://www.protocam.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SLS-Laserform-A6.jpg

8. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Current ALM Activities in Aerospace
• Plastic part count reduction
• Mostly seen in producing more complicated air duct systems in a single print
• Assembly line tools
• Generating on the fly solutions for assembly of parts to make an assembly job
easier and more consistent
• Creating cheap ‘one-use’ tools (tools for applying sealants and glues)
• Drill templates
• Initial Prototyping
• Tooling
• Using ALM for creating large forming tools with
minimum amount of material (topology optimization)
• Turbomachinery
• Fuel nozzles
• Part count reduction

9. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
History of ALM in Aerospace
• Print a current design for ALM
• Taking a part that was made conventionally (machined), and is now grown
• Adapt a current part for ALM
• Allows for a comparison between a current design and a new design
• Usually incorporate some optimization
• Show an increase in performance and decrease in weight
• Design a part for ALM
http://www.pddnet.com/article/2014/02/printing-3d-parts-aerospace-applicationshttp://blog.ponoko.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Optimised-Hinge-vs-Original_x534.jpg

10. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Design for ALM
• Topology Optimization
• Lattice
• Organic shapes
• Hollow parts
• Part Reduction

11. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Issues with Designing for ALM
• Topology Optimization
• Lattice
• How do we deal with this type of part? Geometry? STL?
• Organic shapes
• How do I model this part (efficiently)
• Hollow parts
• Support structure? Removing supports?

12. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Current ALM Offering
• Use current CAD to create design space
• Inspire for Design/Interpretation
• Back to CAD to add parametric features
• HM/OS for Analysis/Lattice
• 3matic-STL for lattice interpretation and mesh cleanup
• Send out the STL file ~250GB
• No current offering for slicing/g-code creation
• Lots of free programs, file x1000 smaller

13. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Traditional Engineering Workflow
Analysis Group
Pre PostSolve
Design Group
10x
Optimization
Production

14. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair ALM Part Design Process:
DESIGN GROUP
HMOS HV
ANALYSIS GROUP
OSHM
PBS
HV
PRODUCTION
TRADITIONAL ANALYSIS
HM OS HV
ANALYSIS GROUP
PBS
PRODUCTION ANALYSIS
LATTICE
SIZING

15. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Future Needs for ALM Design & Analysis
• Seamless transition of data from each program that is being used
• Ability to categorize STL files and adapt them into the PLM system
• Integration of production analysis to help drive design
• Access to large CPU clusters to run slice models, then feed that data
into the design
• Access to print history data that can be used to help make better parts
• Standard printing configurations to test baselines and materials
• Train designers to think more organically, break away from traditional
designs
• New CAD program that can work on 3D parts

16. Copyright © 2014 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Final Thoughts/Summary/Recap
• Don’t be afraid to CTRL+P
• Data is the new forum in which we show confidence
• Use the inexperience of the newer generation to gain experience
• Trust in the software you use (and the user that is using it)