The Cummings and Goings of Chelsea – Software, Hardware, Design
Often as a boots-on-the-ground ADDvisor®, Chelsea derives most of her experience from testing hardware and software to aid in AM design optimization. Her goals center around learning how various user-workflows impact design for various applications. By orienting design around process principles and target part performance, she can tailor optimization to parts across diverse use-cases.
Software
Even today where there are many offerings attempting to standardize the entire AM digital workflow, AM software users often still piece-meal workflows together so they can use their favorite programs for specific tasks. In 2022, gaps still remain for executing certain functions reliably and repeatably.
Here are some interesting “bridges” that have been announced to address those gaps and increase the industry’s digital efficiency.
nTopology – Deployed a feature that eliminates meshes from the AM part preparation workflow. Customers can now take implicit modeling straight to EOS Print, eliminating the often loose and error-prone representation of the 3D model, the STL.
Spherene – Shared their non-periodic generative software. Their team has successfully mimicked bio-designs which are inherently stronger and better at thermal dissipation, along with other design-driven performance metrics.
4D Additive – Essentially a build preparation software, but with added functionality to improve 3D models before sending to print. The team is specifically considerate of being able to read any file type, automated serialization, intelligent scaling and defeaturing, as well as adding various surface textures.
Hardware
Often the best way to learn is by doing. Last year, getting hands-on time with both large and small-scale DED processes highlighted impressive work by Big Metal Additive and Form Alloy.
This year holds further exploration of new takes on metal AM processes, specifically E-beam (check out our latest article on Stress Testing the JEOL JAM-5200EBM Electron Beam Metal 3D Printer – Part I), powder bed fusion, and paste-based processes that are cleaning up and reducing hazards at the machine operation.
Design
As software tools improve, it takes much of the trial-and-error guess work out of the design process. This has enabled more efficient designs for complex fluid-flowing cold plates as well as acoustics-driven designs. Per the AM precedent, designs of new, interesting, and unexpected shapes emerge, that were never achievable before. Stay tuned for upcoming knowledge-sharing in this area.
Chelsea is an AM consultant, contributing to a variety of projects mainly supporting design for the process and advising customers on digital tools available to support their AM strategy. She began her engineering career at Honeywell Aerospace, gaining experience in various roles, including AM. Her AM experience focused on developing metal parts built on powder bed machines for aerospace applications. Her experience qualifying production parts for AM with the FAA at Honeywell led her to a role in new product engineering at Arconic (formerly Alcoa) where she successfully qualified additively manufactured parts for aerospace production for a major European aircraft manufacturer. Her work with various manufacturers in flight, space and medical industries has honed her AM design skills for diverse applications. Lean certified by her alma mater, Arizona State University and Honeywell, she cultivates streamlined AM designs, production and applications.
Key Accomplishments:
• Integrated manufacturing and testing in support of the first Army-developed, metal AM, flight safety component flown on a U.S. Army rotorcraft in 2022 – championed digital technical data package deployment to supply chain and production test data compilation and reporting to the Army within the AMNOW program
• Qualified Inconel 718 flight hardware part family into AM production for Airbus A320neo upgrade in 2018 – championed build design and part production management throughout program
• Qualified the first of its kind Inconel 718 L-PBF flight hardware with the FAA, employed by Honeywell in 2015 – championed fixed process control and driving the part through the production cycle