Additive Manufacturing Design for Wärtsilä Wärtsilä was willing to redesign their valve springs press tools by having a lighter structure made by additive manufacturing. The initial “standard design” was machined and welded, but there were fears that it would not withstand the spring forces of over 30 kN generated during use. Wärtsilä involved Etteplan to co-design and rethink the manually operated pressing tool for mounting cylinder head valves. Case Wärtsilä Expertise Engineering Four potential metals were considered for the final additive manufactured component, and design objectives included restrictions on manufacturing cost and material usage. The customer also wanted to understand how quickly this type of engineering and design task could be completed. Image: Original welded pressing tool design Simulation-driven design approach To tackle this project, Etteplan assembled a team that included experts in AM production, AM design, topology optimization and print process simulation. The design workflow started with definition of available design space, boundary conditions and maximum potential loads that the tool would be exposed to during operation. Altair OptiStruct and SolidThinking Inspire software were used to run topology optimization and FEM analyses for design concept generation. Inspire PolyNURBS were used to generate smooth CAD surfaces over the topology optimized results while allowing the organic features of the design to be maintained. OptiStruct was then used for performance evaluation of the final component design, and Additive Works Amphyon software, part of the Altair Partner Alliance (APA), was utilized to simulate the print process to ensure that the component was printable and that maximum distortion levels were within reason. Image: Etteplan’s simulation driven AM design workflow for the Wärtsilä tooling case Benefits Etteplan was able to create a pressing tool design that was ready to be printed within one week from when the project starting data was frozen. The topology optimized design met both the cost and material usage targets. Additionally, care was taken so that the design was self-supporting, which further reduces manufacturing costs by eliminating material waste and minimizing post-processing costs. Keys to success Etteplan’s final design of the pressing tool for mounting cylinder head valves met and exceeded all of Wärtsilä’s initial AM design objectives. The fast turnaround in this project was made possible by assembling a team of experts who used topology optimization to eliminate excess material usage in a self-supporting design and print process simulation to guarantee that it could be successfully manufactured. Image: Additive manufactured pressing tool designed by Etteplan’s AMO team for Wärtsilä
Developing a range extender device for Pexraytech Pexraytech is a Otaniemi, Finland based high-tech company that develops and manufactures cutting-edge portable X-Ray imaging systems. Pexraytech makes use of the extensive X-Ray engineering expertise that Finland has, providing innovative and intuitive solutions for two focus areas: Security market and Industrial NDT (Non Destructive Testing). They also offer advanced customized systems to users who need special X-Ray solutions for other applications
Machine risk assessment tools taken to a new level at Metsä Board Metsä Board specializes in eco-friendly fresh fiber paperboards, and its products are mainly used in food and consumer product packaging. The company has long been focusing on circular economy solutions to meet customers’ future packaging requirements, such as the traceability of renewable raw materials and the recyclability of packaging. Part of Metsä Group, Metsä Board has altogether eight mills, seven of which are located in Finland.
Hybrid manufacturing case: Rosendahl Nextrom While Etteplan’s AMO team is working hard to show our customers how to benefit most from additive manufacturing, we are always searching for the best manufacturing method for each design. This customer case is a good example of how “hybrid manufacturing”, a combination of additive and traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques, can be utilized to efficiently produce a very demanding product. 3d printing additive manufacturing
Carbon fiber composite – futureproof solutions to all industries Read more about Carbon fiber composite – futureproof solutions to all industries
Creating a digital era dental robot Rayo 3DToothfill aims to improve the lives of billions of people with affordable, high-quality dental health. Their solution provides the best results with comparable costs for the dentist and for the patients. To ensure their solution is usable in different surroundings, it is simple and easy-to use.
Additive Manufacturing Design Case for John Deere’s Hydraulic Block John Deere Forestry Oy asked Etteplan to redesign a hydraulic block for a tree harvester boom in order to best utilize the geometric freedoms offered by additive manufacturing, i.e. 3D printing. The goals from the redesign were to decrease pressure drop, make assembly easier, reduce weight, and minimize production costs. additive manufacturing
