Design World

As AM becomes more accepted as part of a manufacturing supply chain, it is altering the way engineers work and develop products. We recently had a conversation with Daniel Lazier, product marketing manager at Markforged.

3D printings effects on sustainability by Design World

3D printing makes it easy to develop tooling for production by Design World

3D printing makes it easy to develop tooling for production by Design World

The aerospace industry was an early adopter of additive technology, followed by the automotive industry. Where do these industries stand in relation to additive technology today? In a recent interview, David Giebenhain, global product director at Protolabs, shares his thoughts.

Additive manufacturing has long been used in automotive, especially in racing. AM enables designers to make fast changes when faced with rapidly changing regulations and short design times. What are some of the lessons learned by those who work with motorsports and what can you gain from their experiences?

Martin Schulz, Global Principal Application Engineer with Littelfuse Europe, speaks with us about some of the engineering issues that arise in the quest to design battery and hydrogen-powered energy efficient vehicles. Martin also held a webinar on this subject: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3191038/C28F3100C80F8D689D6BA8D6D3354C61

In this Technology Tuesdays podcast, Jonathan Cottrell, lead program manager with PTI, chats with Design World’s Michelle Froese about design for manufacturing and the injection-molding process. Cottrell discusses the key factors to take into account when designing plastic parts, including the material, gate, wall, tool, and draft considerations.

Listen in for:

• Key considerations for the injection-molding process, including material selection

• How to achieve uniform wall thickness and the significance of applying proper draft

• The importance of gating, part geometry, and tool design

• Variables to account for when ejecting a part from the mold

• Tips for improving aesthetics without compromising a part’s reliability

Jonathan Cottrell BSME, MBA, has been working in the field of plastic injection molding since graduating from high school. With nearly 25 years of experience, he’s developed products in several industries including automotive, aerospace, military, agriculture, medical devices, and others. Cottrell’s had the opportunity in his career to follow products throughout their lifecycle — from concept to completion — which has led to valuable experience when implementing design for manufacturing practices to produce quality parts.

PTI is a custom injection molder and manufacturer of plastic components and assemblies, specializing in low-volume production. The company has extensive capabilities in design, engineering, and tooling, with an array of secondary services.

As additive manufacturing gains acceptance as a production tool, the size of a typical 3D print slice data file is predicted to grow cubically. Handling all of these data could become an issue for the additive industry. Harshil Goel, CEO and Founder of Dyndrite discusses potential solutions to this problem.

Materials have been and will continue to be key elements of any additive manufacturing or 3D printing operation. New materials are emerging all the time. As vendors explore and develop materials, new information emerges about the best ways to use additive equipment.