Evaluating Current CAD Tools Performances in the Context of Design for Additive Manufacturing

Abdul Hadi (1) , Frédéric Vignat (1) , François Villeneuve (1)

1 G-SCOP_CPP - Conception Produit Process

Metallic Additive Manufacturing is a technology which opens a new world of opportunities in design and manufacturing. It is mainly based on melting metallic powder layer by layer and turning it into direct end user parts. The creation of complex part forms and lightweight structures have become easier with Additive Manufacturing through large usage of lattice structures. However, current design methods and Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) tools are not tailored for this type of shapes and are not yet optimized to achieve the great potential offered by this new technology. The breakthrough in manufacturing technology is not yet followed by a breakthrough in design and CAD tools. The current study aims at evaluating current CAD software's performances and proposes requirements for CAD tools to be efficient in design for additive manufacturing. The results show that current CAD tools and CAD file formats have insufficient performance in the context of design for Additive Manufacturing and a new file format together with new CAD human interaction needs to be created to overcome these problems.

Mots clés: Designing Process; Computer-Aided-Design; Designing Methodology; Additive Manufacturing

Domaines: Génie mécanique [physics.class-ph]

Abdul Hadi, Frédéric Vignat, François Villeneuve. Evaluating Current CAD Tools Performances in the Context of Design for Additive Manufacturing. Joint Conference on Mechanical, Design Engineering & Advanced Manufacturing, Jun 2014, Toulouse, France. ⟨hal-01241624⟩