CAD modeling

Printed matter to address a range of ills

August 16, 2022 By WTWH Editor Leave a Comment

Here are six ways CAD and 3D printing have come together to drive healthcare forward. Only a few short decades ago, some of these results seemed would have been considered “science fiction.”

Jean Thilmany, Senior Editor

Twenty-five years ago, it became possible to turn a computed tomography (CT) scan or an X-ray into a three-dimensional, handheld medical model that would exactly match a patient’s anatomy. Surgeons could order one of these models from a third-party provider by sending in patient images and getting a handheld model—shaped by human hands from a variety of materials—back within a few weeks.

The widespread advent of 3D printing soon made the sending and the shaping obsolete. Now, doctors who print their individualized medical images have 3-D models in their hands in hours, even in moments, depending on where the printer is located.

That’s one example of the ways engineering technology—including computer-aided modeling and 3D printing—has made hugely helpful strides into the medical field within the past few decades.

And the use of CAD modeling software within medicine continues to evolve even as it becomes more widely adopted within varied medical and biomedical settings. Below, we take a look at the ways CAD continues to make inroads into the healthcare industry.

Surgery guide
Because every patient is different, each surgery differs too, no matter how slightly. For decades in the medical world, surgeons and their professional support teams relied on X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonant imaging (MRI) data to plan a patient’s surgery exactly.

Doctors used these guides to study and practice the techniques called upon for that patient’s particular surgery.

But the resolution and 2D perspective of these images could make it difficult to determine the full details of an anatomical geometry. “Subtle abnormalities or hidden geometries can go unnoticed on these flat films,” says Derek Steinbacher former director of craniofacial surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital.

This year, Steinbacher was named the Yale School of Medicine’s medical director for innovation and emerging technologies. In naming the promotion, the school’s directors praised Steinbacher’s use of artificial intelligence and 3D planning for complex and routine facial plastic surgeries.

Today, models of specific patient’s anatomy are often printed in 3D, thanks to the linkage of CAD and 3D printers. The specialized software turns the 2D medical image of the organ, bone, or other part of body into a 3D CAD model that can then be printed, notes Steinbacher.

“Thanks to virtual reality manipulation technology that 3D imaging offers, surgeons are able to plan a surgery using guides and jigs, which are later used during surgery to provide the surgeon with a precise cutting path or accurate drill angles. In many cases, surgeons evaluate several different scenarios long before making an incision,” says Lisa Lattanza, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Yale School of Medicine.

Using this technology, Lattanza, is able to detect indicators for deformity after trauma or congenital deformities. Bilateral 3D renderings are generated from scans that reveal the patient’s skeletal anatomy. Those mirrored images are laid on top on one another, which allow Lattanza to directly compare and evaluate bone topography and deformity in three planes and allow for exact correction as well as to better identify locations for drill guides, cuts, and screws that may be needed.

“This type of technology allows me to perform types of operations I would otherwise be unable to perform or at least could not perform with as much accuracy,” Lattanza says.

The technique has been shown to save time during the operation itself.

A paper in the August 2020 issue of the journal Academic Radiology found that using 3D printed anatomic models in surgical care could cut anywhere from 23 minutes to one hour from the operation itself and cut cost surgical costs by up to $3,720, according to lead author David Ballard, assistant professor of radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

“To help hospitals realize these savings, some makers of CAD software provide services that convert anatomical data to CAD files. One example is BioCAD, from SolidWorks. The translation is done by Biomedical Modeling Inc., which makes anatomically accurate 3D reconstructions of the heart, blood vessels, bones, and internal organs,” says Crispin Weinberg, BMI president.

Training, device development
Other models aren’t taken directly from a patient’s CAT, X-ray or MRI; rather, 3D patient anatomy models—based on general-patient CAD data—can be used to more generally guide surgery and to train physicians and other healthcare workers. “Medical device developers also use the models when they create minimally invasive medical devices,” Weinberg says.

The practice of 3D-printed medical models is so widespread that in 2019, the American Medical Association approved four initial current procedural terminally (CTP) reimbursement codes for 3-D printed models. The codes are used to submit reimbursement requests for medical procedures.

Zygote Media Group builds and sells 3-D CAD medical models, like this for a skull, that can be printed for medical training or dropped into entertainment media like video games or movies.
Credit: Zygote Media Group

“The American College of Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America had been working toward those codes for the changes for some time,” says Frank Rybicki, Vice Chair of quality and safety radiology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

“Medical models and surgical guides have been 3D printed for well over a decade, as niche applications, without CPT codes,” Rybicki adds. “For example, craniomaxillofacial care providers generally accept that 3D printing is valuable and integral to patient care. However, when applying for CPT codes, it became clear that this ‘general acceptance’ lacked peer-reviewed literature to demonstrate value.”

Journal papers like Ballard’s and his colleagues are helping move 3D printing into the mainstream, Rybicki notes.

“The temporary codes are used to define 3D printing’s use in the medical field. Defining the role had been difficult because the technology had traditionally been used for a range of techniques and the uses weren’t well documented,” Rybicki says.

Rybicki founded a RSNA special interest group on 3D printing. In 2019, the society helped establish a registry to gather clinical data on medical 3D printing.

The 3D printing information within the hospital setting collected by the RSNA and ACR will help set formal CPT code nomenclature.

That’s entertainment
Some medical CAD models aren’t actually used for medical purposes. If you’ve seen the movie Hollow Man, for example, you’ve seen digital CAD models from Zygote Media Group, which builds and sells detailed 3D models of the human body based on MRI and CT data.

“Their models include the human skeleton, heart, arteries, nerves, and muscle tissue,” says David Dunston, Zygote executive partner.

“Some Zygote’s customers do use the CAD models to develop biomedicine products. A biomedical company may use 3D heart models to develop stents or a skeletal model to design a brace to straighten a crooked spine,” Dunston says.
“But the models are also used to drop realistic human-looking body parts into video games, commercials, and movies,” Dunston says.

The company’s CAD models have appeared in movies like Hollow Man, in television commercials, and on The Discovery Channel. They’ve also made appearances in a host of university classrooms and corporate training videos, he adds.

Creating body parts
In 2017, Chris Cahill, a New Jersey resident, woke up from a two-months-long coma caused by a brain injury. His brain swelling from the unknown trauma had been life threatening and the patient’s skull itself was infected, says Gaurav Gupta, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“The infected frontal lobe of Cahill’s skull would need to be replaced,” Gupta says.

The surgical team had to custom-make the part to exactly fit Cahill’s skull, he adds. Using Cahill’s CT scans, Gupta’s team 3D printed a model of the skull and a custom-fit implant that would replace the missing piece.

Cahill was nervous about the surgery, but he woke up looking like his old self again.

Gupta pointed out the similarities between the way 3D CAD files and CT scans work. “For 3D printing, 3D CAD models are sliced into two-dimensional graphics files and each layer is then printed one atop the other until the final part is done. CT scans also break 3D images into 2D images each of which is one-slice thick,” Gupta says.

Cahill has been pleased with the results, according to news articles in which he’s quoted as saying he looks “as good as new.”

Printed prosthetics
The democratization of prosthetic design and creation through 3D printing enables millions of people around the world to reap the benefits of the newly popularized manufacturing technology.

The recent ubiquity of 3D printers and innovations in prosthetic design, manufacturing, and distribution offer a viable solution for the millions of people living with limb loss around the world. In the United States alone, close to 200,000 amputations are performed each year, yet, with prosthetics priced from $5,000-$50,000, having one can almost be considered a luxury, according to The Enable Community Foundation, a global network of volunteers who print prosthetic limbs for around $50.

A 17-year-old girl received a prosthetic arm printed with the help of the Enable Community Foundation. Her arm is inscribed with the words: Ebewelleda, let’s enjoy the good side of life.
Credit: Enable Community Foundation

Traditionally, the process of getting a prosthetic limb can take anywhere from weeks to months. Because prosthetics are such personal items, each one has to (or should) be custom-made or fit to the needs of the wearer. However, as 3D printers become more affordable, with some available for less than $200, the possibility of anyone being able to design and print a prosthetic limb in their home or local community could become a reality, according to Jon Schull, Enable board chair president.

In the near future, prosthetics will be seamlessly integrated into people’s everyday lives with minimal effort. New 3D scanning and body modeling technologies from companies such as Body Labs enable people to 3D scan their limbs and have prosthetics modeled after them, making for a more natural fit and appearance.

Technological developments from innovators such as Hugh Herr—a rock climber an MIT biophysicist—have introduced new abilities, including propulsion sensors and sophisticated algorithms that work together to automate more natural joint movement.

“The development of predictive movement for prosthetics will make it so people won’t have to think hard about controlling the device. Soon, prosthetics will move with more fluidity to mimic natural movement, and people will be able to control them in part with their brains and bodies through direct natural touch input systems,” Herr says.

New body parts for transplant
From prosthetics to actual body parts: researchers are at work on ways to actually print living tissue from CAD files.
In recent years, 3D bioprinting has made huge strides toward the goal of printing organs that can be successfully transplanted into humans. “While that’s still far in the future, the method continues to be studied and advances can lead to new and improved treatments for conditions such as spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, brain cancer, and more,” says Steinbacher of the Yale School of Medicine.

The 3D printing of living cells follows standard 3D printing methods with a few twists. The printer, following a CAD file, lays down layer upon layer of material to build a shape. Instead of metals or plastics, bioprinters use bioinks as their materials. These contain living cells amid viscous materials like alginate or gelatin. “The cells are often built upon scaffolding to support and protect the cells,” Steinbacher says.

The Radiological Society of North America started a 3-D printing registry in 2019 to track information about printed parts like this small heart. The results will help define medical billing codes for 3-D printed parts.
Credit: RSNA

As these examples show, the intersection of healthcare and 3D printing is only in its first stages. It’s not the stuff of science fiction. 3D printing, CAD, and medicine have come together to bring us a better quality of life. Even 20 years ago, these results were unthinkable.

Cahill, as he goes about his days, is thankful times have changed and 3D printing has made the inroads it has into medicine.

Waste Not

October 28, 2021 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Engineering software helps products get greener.

Jean Thilmany, Senior Editor

For at least the past decade, the makers of design software have been touting the role their products play in sustainable design. New United States’ environmental regulations mean that conversation isn’t ending anytime soon. In fact, designers have found software can help them cut waste, aid sustainable design efforts, and boost budgets all at once, something they’d once thought impossible.

In August, Oregon passed the nation’s second extended producer responsibility law (EPR) law for packaging. Maine had voted in favor of an EPR law one month earlier. Under these laws, most product manufacturers must reduce packaging waste and become a member of a producer responsibility organization. In Oregon, PROs will need to submit an EPR plan to the state’s department of environmental quality by March 2024 and begin implementation of the plan the following July.

While environmental design—also called sustainable design—is driven by much more than rules and regulations, environmental design considerations will continue to grow, say the makers of computer-aided design and other types of engineering software. In response, they’ve added more sustainable design features to their systems.

But will the makers of products that range in size and complexity from refrigerators down to button batteries change their designs in light of new laws and increased public emphasis on environmental design? Possibly finds past research from the Resources for the Future, a Washington D.C. nonprofit with the mission to improve the environment, energy, and natural resource decisions. Cause and effect—law and design changes—are hard to link, the report found.

But even without legislation, manufacturers are heeding customers’ cries for greener goods.

Alice is a zero-emission, all-electric aircraft under development at Eviation Aircraft, which expects the plan to make regional flights more affordable. (Eviation Aircraft.)

“The extent to which EPR policies lead to design for the environment is an open question,” wrote Margaret Walls, then a researcher at Resources for the Future, in a 2006 report. The term “extended producer responsibility” was coined when the original German packaging take-back law was passed in the early 1990s, Walls wrote. “Although EPR means slightly different things to different people, a core characteristic of any EPR policy is that it places some responsibility for a product’s end-of-life environmental impacts on the original producer and seller of that product.

“The thinking behind this approach is that it will provide incentives for producers to make design changes to products that would reduce waste management costs. Those changes should include improving product recyclability and reusability, reducing material usage, downsizing products, and engaging in a host of other so-called design for environment activities,” she wrote.

Her report set out to find whether the early EPR laws had led to design changes. At the time, documentation was sparse on “real-world changes made in response to policies.”

Walls found that, in Germany, packaging volumes and materials use had declined after the EPR regulations went into effect. In Japan, Honda increased the proportion of materials within their vehicles that can be recycled in response to a law mandating auto shredder residue—the mixed material left over for disposal after vehicle parts have been recycled—meet specified recycling rate targets.

Manufacturing makes the mix

Today’s sustainable design practices go beyond the actual products themselves to encompass manufacturing methods. CAD helps here because manufacturing decisions begin with product design, researchers say.

The term environmentally conscious manufacturing process (ECMP) refers to the integration of environmental thinking into new product development, say researchers at institutions in France and Tunisia.

“ECMP has become an obligation to the environment and to the society itself, enforced primarily by governmental regulations and customer perspective on environmental issues,” writes Raoudha Gaha in a 2015 paper published in the International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology. “This is especially true in the CAD phase, which is the last phase in the design process. At this stage more than 80% of (manufacturing) choices are made.”

Designers at Bresslergroup Innovation, literally designed a better (at least from an environmental standpoint) Victor Mousetrap from the Woodstream company. Woodstream

Gaha is a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Technology of Compiègne in Compiègne, France. He teamed with researchers at the National Engineering School of Monastir in Tunisia and at Ecole Centrale in Paris on the study.

Engineers should take a product’s geometry and machining information into consideration as they work within CAD software, Gaha writes. The researchers propose an ECMP approach to eco-design that calls upon CAD technology.

Will it fly in Earth-friendly style?

Elsewhere, engineering technology providers have introduced solutions intended to aid with the design of products that are themselves specifically billed as environmentally friendly.

Take the example of the zero-emission, all-electric aircraft under development at Eviation Aircraft of Israel, which introduced a prototype of the plane, named Alice, in 2019. With a proposed cruising speed of 280 miles per hour, the nine-passenger airliner will be an affordable and sustainable option for air travel, says Omer Bar-Yohay, Eviation Air chief executive officer. Because electric engines offer higher propulsion efficiencies and lower maintenance costs, the plane’s flight costs are reduced by around 90% as compared to similar, traditionally made aircraft “which makes flying regional distances affordable,” Bar-Yohay says. Because the plane is electric, it’s quieter than a traditional plane.

Once commercialized, Alice will be capable of carrying two crew members and nine passengers on a single charge for 650 miles at 10,000 feet, he adds.

Engineers at Eviation Air where able to create the Alice prototype in two years with the help of “Reinvent the Sky” engineering software, which sits on the cloud-based 3DExperience platform from Dassault Systèmes, Bar-Yohay says. The platform integrates 3D design, composite design, and flow simulation.

More than 160 suppliers and partners located all over the world collaborated on the project.

“The propellers are made in the US, the plane’s molds in Indonesia, the landing gear in Italy, other components in France,” Bar-Yohay says. “The engineering technology allowed us to collaborate and go from concept to prototype very quickly.”

Sustainable by choice

Environmentally friendly needn’t be the size of an airplane.

The new era of innovation will come from sustainable solutions, proudly declares a director of innovation at a company that could be said to manufacture a rather fusty, noninnovative product.

While the door locks and access controls Assa Abloy makes are not quite as alluring as an electric aircraft, they’re of even greater necessity.

Recently, the manufacturer sought to introduce sustainable design practices for its products. In order for these systems to be included on green-building designs, the company needed to provide an Environmental Product Declaration to its customers. Builders need the EPD information to attain environmental certification, says Markus Bade, Assa Abloy’s director of innovation for central Europe.

Yakima engineers redesigned their company’s ForkLift roof-rack bike with the help of software that alerted them to areas of material waste they could trim. Yakima

For the first step toward gathering the information, the manufacturer conducted a baseline sustainable engineering study on an existing product. This was done to assess and compare the environmental impacts of existing and modified designs. For the study, the company’s engineering team in the Netherlands used the sustainability solution that can be included with SolidWorks 3D CAD software, Bade says.

Although SolidWorks Sustainability estimates the carbon footprint, energy consumption, and water and air impacts associated with a particular design, the construction industry requires additional environmental data for an EPD. Nevertheless, by providing these figures, the software gave engineers a trusted starting point for sustainable design, Bade says.

The Assa Abloy designers then used the environmental impact assessment tools within SolidWorks to design a new door-locking mechanism that cut the existing product’s environmental impact and also reduced manufacturing costs by 15%, Bade says. In fact, those two results were connected on one another, he adds.

The re-designed product proved the “traditional business view of sustainable design” wrong, he says. Sustainable design practices can improve processes and save money.

“We were pleasantly surprised to learn that by evaluating the environmental impact of a product, we can cut costs and protect the environment,” he says.

Analysis of the existing product found it to be overly strong, so engineers felt confident enough to go ahead with changes to material weight and thickness, Bade adds. The team cut the number of materials used and replaced custom nickel- and chrome-plated materials with stainless steel, and redesigned the latch tail.

Other changes included closing the lock case, riveting the cover, and screwing on the front plate.

“The material savings are quite dramatic,” Bade says. “When you cast nearly a million metal parts each year, every gram that you can cut from each part means less impact on the environment and lower cost.

Another developer, Sustainable Minds, makes software intended to give engineers pertinent supplier and material information, which allows them to weigh each design decision from an environmental standpoint.

Take Yakima. The customers who buy a ForkLift roof-rack bike mount made by the company are, for the most part, already environmentally conscious. The fork-style roof rack bike mount fits nearly every bicycle crossbar right out of the box without adjustment. To make the product even more environmentally appealing, Yakima used the Sustainable Minds software to find places environmental improvements could be made to its forklifts, says Chris Sautter, advanced development manager at the company.

The sustainability software highlighted the areas where engineers could make material substitutions that significantly improved sustainability and also improved cost and performance, Sautter says.

Reduce the wrappings

When it comes to retail products, sustainable packaging and manufacturing processes don’t necessarily need to be separate, designers have discovered.

The product development firm Bresslergroup Innovation, headquartered in Philadelphia literally designed a better mousetrap—and its packaging—with help from Susainable Minds software. When Woodstream learned its Victor Mousetrap may have a place in the aisle at Walmart, the supplier knew a high score on the retailer’s environmental scorecard would further the mousetrap’s chance of acceptance.

To boost the rating, Woodstream called in Bresslergroup Innovation, which kicked off redesign using the Sustainable Minds evaluation process, says Mathieu Turpault, director of design and managing partner at Bresslergroup.

“The software enabled us to create a benchmark, a starting point that we could iterate around and improve upon. We could quickly test assumptions, evaluate how shipping environmental impact compared to material environmental impact, and figure out where our design time and effort should be spent,” Turpault says.

After improving on the product’s design, Bresslergroup turned its attention to packaging. Designers were able to eliminate the plastic blister pack and minimize the amount of cardboard the mousetrap had been packaged in.

The designers discovered early that the environmental impact of shipping the mousetrap to retail locations was fairly minimal. Material selection was a more important element for sustainable packaging.

“It became clear that removing material from the packaging design would yield significant environmental gains,” Turpault says. “Sustainable Minds helped guide our design process throughout.”

Maybe the mousetrap maker is leading the way, showing manufacturers in Oregon and Maine that they can reduce packaging waste to meet the new environmental legislation in those states. It may also demonstrate that sustainable design practices don’t need to increase costs while raising the changes the product could appear on retailers’ shelves or as a construction material within certified green buildings.

And the practices will give the environment a break as well.

Third of automotive engineers are dissatisfied with their thermal modelling capabilities

August 23, 2021 By WTWH Editor Leave a Comment

Nearly a third (30%) of automotive thermal engineers are dissatisfied with the current modeling capabilities of their thermal simulation platforms. That’s according to a new survey conducted by Future Facilities, exploring the thermal challenges of the automotive industry.

Polling 50 thermal engineers, including users from the top 5 ranked simulation providers, the study found that almost two thirds (60%) of those working on automotive designs have been prevented from optimizing user safety due to inadequate simulation software.

40% of automotive engineers surveyed also agreed that they are unable to perform simulation to the level they’re looking to achieve due to hardware limitations. The same percentage stated that they’re limited due to poor access to manufacturer models for thermal simulation.

6SigmaET’s research has also explored the key thermal challenges facing the automotive industry, identifying consolidation, automation and electric vehicles as posing the biggest challenges for thermal engineers.

Drawbacks like these are severely impacting pivotal parts of the design process, such as graphics and model creation – leading to slower solve speeds and ultimately slower time-to-market.

Chris Aldham, product manager at 6SigmaET, commented: “The automotive industry is one of the most interesting battlegrounds for thermal engineers. As automotive engineers are asked to squeeze increasingly sophisticated technologies into smaller and smaller spaces, we need to experiment with solutions for tackling increased heat output without compromising performance or aesthetics.

“With that in mind, such widespread dissatisfaction for engineers’ current modeling capabilities is concerning. Companies need to find more efficient, accessible ways of modeling, whether that’s features like photorealistic graphics that improve the clarity of design, or automating model creation and post processing to speed up the process. Engineers require support in building the best electronics for the automotive industry, allowing them to focus upon CFD simulation and thermal design. This means providing simulation packages that incorporate the very latest modeling technology, capable of catering to these evolving industry trends.”

Future Facilities
www.6sigmaet.info

3D Printing ( and CAD) Save Lives

August 17, 2021 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Prosthetic limbs have been printed for years. So when a global crisis hit, additive manufacturing was ready to contribute quickly to life-saving equipment.

Jean Thilmany, Senior Editor

In the early days of the pandemic, engineers quickly designed and printed medical protective gear and respirator valves. The response demonstrated the lifesaving potential the technique could have in the medical realm. But many in the field already knew the potential 3D printing has to enhance patients’ quality of life. For years, the method of creating a 3D object by depositing a material in layers has been used for customized prosthetic limbs.

While many printed medical devices are still under investigation, patients who wore early 3D-printed limbs—only about 20 years ago—recognize how far additive manufacturing has come in healthcare in that short time. Scientists have even established a new field—3D bio-printing—that explores everything from the prosthetic iris to an artificial heart to the printing of customized pharmaceuticals.

But bio-printing couldn’t exist without computer-aided design. A medical device CAD model—whether a prosthetic leg or a respiratory mask—exists before the physical prototype does, the same as in other manufacturing processes. Across all types of manufacturing, the engineer redesigns and analyzes a model many times before creating a physical prototype.
Rather than feeding out instructions to, say, a CNC machine, the CAD files used for additive manufacturing instruct the printers on how much material to deposit at particular locations.
That precision along with the range of materials 3D printers can use, even living tissue, drives medical research across all categories.

For instance, doctors at Northwestern University announced in June that they’d used images of volunteers’ irises, Photoshop, and AutoCAD software to create a prosthetic iris. It’s intended for people with aniridia, a rare condition in which a person is born without an iris. The iris controls pupil size in response to light, so a prosthetic iris could help its wearers see better in all types of light conditions.

Meanwhile, researchers at the Yonsei University reported their work on a 3D-printed cosmetic, prosthetic eye through use of mapping, design, and printing technology. The paper appeared in the February 2021 journal Korean Ophthalmology.

Studies like these are an extension of one of 3D printing’s first medical uses, the creation of customized, artificial limbs. When the technique was still new, doctors discovered additive manufacturing created better-fitting, lighter, stronger and more flexible prosthetics than traditional methods; and in much less time.

Printed limbs can be closely customized to the wearer through the use of imaging systems like computer-aided tomography, which exactly maps the patient’s body, often the remaining stump of a leg, where the artificial limb will attach. The CAT scans are sent to a CAD system where they’re converted into digital model of the body. Then, engineers can create a prosthetic model that exactly fits the shape of the body.

When the CAD model is complete, the software sends instructions to the 3D printer, which prints the customized prosthetic by building it up, layer upon layer of a material such as plastic or metal.

The result is a much better fit for patients, a lighter prosthetic, and—in many cases—a more affordable device, say researchers like Hugh Herr, the director of the Biomechatronics Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

An artificial leg printed leg a decade ago—even some printed now—looks more like a traditionally created prosthetic limb, which is die-cast of aluminum or titanium. Patients who wear these standard limbs may move awkwardly due to the device’s limited range of motion. The people who wear them may have difficulty with walking, running, and picking up objects, Herr says.

After the Civil War, prosthetic legs became more common within the United States, especially jointed legs such as this one. The design hadn’t changed much through the years; until additive manufacturing. Hugh Herr, the director of the Biomechatronics Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is helping create “biohybrid” prosthetics, partly using 3D printing, that work in harmony with the humans who wear them, including himself.

Today’s myoelectric prosthetics are fitted with robotics and sensor technologies so their movements closely mimic that of a human hand or foot. Through more natural movement, wearers will have an easier time walking, running or picking up and carrying objects, movements that today can be somewhat awkward due to the limited motion of the prosthetic, Herr says.

In today’s parlance these are “bionic limbs,” so-called because their capabilities are so much greater than the early 3D-printed limbs.

Herr’s work has been instrumental to bionic limbs. But he wants to extend the field even further. He’s helping create “biohybrid” prosthetics that work in harmony with the humans who wear them.

His mission is personal as well. Herr lost both legs to frostbite while rock climbing in New Hampshire’s White Mountains in 1982. He still climbs. In fact, Herr says he climbs better with the legs he’s recently developed than he did before the accident. He expects future advances in prosthetics to help him climb with even more speed and agility.

Also in the near future, wearers may well control the prosthetic limbs the way most everyone controls their natural arms and legs; without a thought. Or rather, with a subconscious thought. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, for example, are studying brain-machine interfaces to control movement of prosthetic limbs and include touch perception.
Additive manufacturing will keep up with these advancements, Herr says.

Medical printing in a pandemic
Printed prosthetic limbs showed the medical community that 3D printing had a place in healthcare. And thankfully so; as the year 2020 proved that additive manufacturing could save lives.

When the COVID-19 pandemic froze traditional supply chains, open-source CAD systems and 3D printers were able to get devices into the hands of healthcare providers who faced shortages in medical and testing equipment and in protective gear, says Aamir Nazir, a researcher at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s High-Speed 3D Printing Research Center. He and fellow researchers studied the rise of the rise of 3D printing and smart CAD during the shutdown, publishing their findings in the October 2021 Journal of Manufacturing Systems.

Researchers at Duke University and the Pratt School of Engineering modified a surgical helmet to incorporate a 3D-prinited filter to create a a protective device to safeguard surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the lockdown began in earnest, “it became obvious very fast that traditional manufacturing and supply techniques weren’t going to work,” Nazir says.

“This created the need for geo scattered, small, and rapid manufacturing units along with a smart computer aided design facility,” he says.

The medical devices printed during this time helped saved lives. The devices could be designed and printed much cheaper, and in much less time than with traditional manufacturing methods. Not to mention, the devices could be made right on the spot, or nearby and available immediately, no shipping required, Nazir says.

This image shows how a retrofit surgical hood from Duke University and Pratt School Engineering is worn to shield surgeons’ faces while still allowing them to wear headlights and loupes directly on their heads.

Medical manufacturers helped the cause by providing 3D printable models on the cloud, rapidly scaling the movement toward 3D cloud manufacturing, he adds.

In those early days of the pandemic, a team of Italian engineers stepped up to make a 3D printed version of a vital respirator valve, a Reuters news report stated.

A hospital in Chiari, an area in northern Italy hit hard by the pandemic, urgently needed valves for the respirators that kept many patients breathing. When the valves’ manufacturer couldn’t get them out in time, Christian Fracassi volunteered his engineers at Isinnova, a 3D printing company he founded.

His staff of 14 engineers immediately began tinkering with the design of the Venturi valve, a small but important valve that kept respirators functioning.

Fracassi took the resulting CAD file and a 3D printer directly to the hospital, discovered it worked, and quickly printed 100 valves. That evening, at least 10 patients were using respirators fitted with the printed valve, Reuters reported.

The Italian hospital wasn’t alone.

The need for the Venturi valves was great. By March 18, more than 100 medical facilities and engineers had asked Percassi to share his CAD file. He couldn’t share the file, he told them, the correct course of action would be to contact the manufacturer first.

In Italy, 3D-printed parts have to be certified. But emergency rules in that country waived the requirement, according to 3D Printing Media Network, which started an Emergency AM Forum to help share designs and ideas during the crisis. Other countries may not have similar waivers, Percassi reasoned.

The next day engineer Filib Kober posted a free model of the Venturi valve he’d made with the GrabCAD open-source system.

Within a week, the model had been downloaded many times and was already being updated. The Kober model couldn’t be printed on the smaller, desktop printers. But individual “makers” only had access to desktop printers, says engineer Useriu Daniel. By the end of March, he’d released his valve-design iteration, created with Catia V5 software. Daniel is an engineer at Romanian researcher organization INCDT-COMOTI.

His updated design can be made with through fused deposition, the method used by desktop printers, he says. The model also had a new feature and the inner surfaces were optimized for fluid flow.

Other engineers quickly designed parts that could be printed or could be integrated with existing designs; and even with existing devices. Engineers at Duke University collaborated with students and researchers at the Pratt School of Engineering to retrofit arthroplasty helmets—a surgical hood. The updated hoods safely shielded surgeons’ faces while still allowing them to wear headlights and loupes directly on their heads.

The engineering team created a manifold that could be 3D printed and incorporated onto existing helmets. CAD allowed for the quick testing and redesign needed for the project, says Melissa Erickson, a spine surgeon at Duke University who helped spearhead the project.
“The engineering team designed and created the final adapter just in 12 days. They were able to come up with different design alterations while testing to make the final manifold, which is only possible because of 3D printing,” Erickson says.

It’s hard to believe, with these quick-thinking creations at a time of crisis, that additive manufacturing is still in its early days in the medical field. Watching a video of Herr scale a mountain on his “bionic legs” does nothing to dispel that.

Though the future of the field is almost unimaginable, Herr thinks he’s got a pretty good handle on the cutting edge of the present. By giving wearers access to these new prosthetics, he’s giving them access to the part of themselves that moves naturally through the world.
By opening up lives like this, by helping to save lives, 3D printing and CAD is on its way to becoming a big part of healthcare.

MecSoft releases VisualCAD/CAM 2021

February 8, 2021 By WTWH Editor Leave a Comment

MecSoft Corporation, a developer of industry-leading CAM software solutions, announced the availability of VisualCAD/CAM 2021, the latest version of MecSoft’s complete standalone Computer Aided Design (CAD)/ Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) product.

Release highlights include:

–New and enhanced CAD features
–A New separately priced module for Adaptive Roughing in 3 Axis milling
–New Face-Top machining method in 2-½ Axis Milling
–Multiple Z-levels in 4 Axis Pocket Milling
–Additional tool axis controls for 5 Axis Continuous Milling
–Numerous features and feature improvements in 2 ½, 3, 4 & 5 Axis machining
–Programmable post-processors employing the Python programming language
–Other Productivity and User Interface enhancements
–Additional enhancements to the G-Code editor & Profile Nesting modules

MecSoft Corp.
mecsoft.com

Developing a Parametric Model of a Bicycle and Human

January 25, 2021 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

A general-purpose parametric SolidWorks model has been created to enable rapid evaluation of novel bicycle concepts. It can be used for ergonomics, checking clearances, aerodynamics, kinematic and degrees of freedom studies, and product visualization.

Dr. Jody Muelaner, PhD CEng MIMechE

For this study in ergonomics, a set of anthropometric models from 3D Human Model were used as the starting point. Key bicycle geometry was defined using reference geometry in individual part files, located using distance and angle mates. This geometry includes the contact points at the saddle, handlebar grips and pedals, as well as the steering axis and wheel positions. Anthropometric models were then configured to fit to these contact points, with a few additional angle and distance mates that allow further adjustment of the rider position. The included models represent 5^th percentile females, 50^th percentile males and 95^th percentile males. The model is stored as an assembly template file, enabling it to be easily reused as a layout for different design concepts. It was created for the BriefBike project, which is developing a new class of folding bicycle that will effortlessly fold into a roller-case.

Key bicycle geometry
There are three ways that references can be parametrically defined within an assembly. Using a sketch or creating reference geometry (point, axis or plane) is often more straightforward and, in the case of a sketch, allows multiple parameters to be defined in a single model tree feature. However, parameters defined in this way cannot be animated or adjusted using the Mate Controller. The Mate Controller is particularly useful within this model as it allows parameter sets for different riding positions to be stored independently of configurations. It is, therefore, possible to apply different standard riding positions to any configurations that a are created. In order to provide this greater flexibility, parameters must be defined using distance and angle mates. This means the reference geometry is first defined with a part file, and the part is then mated in the assembly file.

The parametric bicycle geometry definitions are:

Planes parallel with the Right plane, defining the width of each pedal from the centerline (Right plane).
The crank length part three axes – the bottom bracket axle and the two pedal axles. The crank length is defined by different configurations of the part file. The part is mated on the right plane with the bottom bracket axis on the Front plane and at a distance from the Top plane, representing the bottom bracket height from the ground. This leaves the pedals free to rotate.
Pedal thickness parts contain a pedal axis and a plane representing the top surface of the pedal. They are mated to the pedal axes in the crank length
A Seat part contains planes representing the seat tube angle and the top surface of the saddle. The seat tube angle is mated coincident with the bottom bracket axis and at an angle from the top plane. The top surface is mated at a distance from the bottom bracket axis.
A Bar part contains an axis to represent the handlebar. It is mated at a vertical and horizontal distance from the bottom bracket axis.
The orientation the handlebar grips is defined in terms of two sequential Euler rotations – the backwards and downwards sweep. A separate part is used to define each rotation.
Grip_Sweep parts are mated to define the position and backwards sweep, with the following constraints:
- Two translations by mating the origin coincident with the Bar axis
- The remaining translation, the width of the grips, is defined by a distance mate between the part’s origin and the assembly Right plane.
- Two rotations are constrained by mating the part’s Top plane parallel with Top in the assembly.
- The backwards sweep is the only remaining degree of freedom. It is defined with an angle mate between the part’s Front plane and Front in the assembly
Grip parts are then mated relative to the Grip Sweep part, defining the downwards sweep.
- All three translations are constrained by mating the origin coincident with the origin of Dum_Grip_Sweep
- Two rotations are constrained by setting the Front plane parallel with Front in Dum_Grip_Sweep
- The downwards sweep is the only remaining angle. It is defined with an angle mate between the Top plane and Top in Dum_Grip_Sweep
Wheels contain an axle axis and a ground plane set at the wheel radius. Different configurations are used for different wheel sizes. Certain configurations may also include basic solid geometry to visualize the tire. The wheels are mated with the ground plane on the assembly Top plane and at distances forwards and rearwards of the bottom bracket axis.
A Steering Axis part contains a plane to represent the steering axis angle and an axis to represent the line where this plane intersects with the ground. The axis is mated coincident with the Top plane of the assembly. A distance mate between this axis and the Front plane of the front wheel defines the steering trail. The steering axis angle is then set with an angle mate.

Care must be taken when using angle mates. The direction in which the angle is defined can flip when changes are made to the model, causing assembly rebuilds to fail or result in unexpected behavior. These issues can usually be avoided by defining a reference entity for each angle mate, which is not defined by default. This is normally just a one click operation, by selecting Auto Fill Reference Entity.

Kinematics of the Human Models
The human model has parts or sub-assemblies for hands, lower arms, upper arms, clavicles, head, neck, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, upper legs, lower legs and feet. These 19 rigid bodies have 114 degrees of freedom (DoF) without any joints or other constraints. Joints between the body parts are either spherical, removing the three DoF for translation, or revolute which also removes two rotations, constraining a total of five DoF.

When all of the joints are added to the body parts, the human model still has 43 DoF. Considering the kinematics of the model as a whole is, therefore, overly complicated. Luckily, it can be broken down into smaller kinematic chains that behave independently. For example, each leg forms a kinematic chain which also includes the crank, and each arm forms a kinematic chain between the shoulder joint and the handlebar grip.

An understanding of how a person should be positioned on a bike was provided by Mike Veal, who created the DIY Dynamic Bike Fitting guide.

The hip joints should align with the plane of the seat post angle.
The angle of the line between the hip and shoulder joints is typically between 45° and 55° from the horizontal. 45° to 50° is usual for a road bike and 50° to 55° is typical for a more relaxed upright position. Dutch bikes can be from 65° to 90°.
The angle of people’s feet relative to the floor is quite personal but a typical value is 15°.
The leg does not completely straighten at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Typically, the angle between the upper and lower leg does not exceeds 140°. Although some literature puts this angle closer to 150° this is due to static measurements with the foot parallel to the floor. When pedalling, the foot assumes a natural angle which reduces the extension of the leg.
Wrists allow three types of rotation and should ideally be in a neutral position for all of them:
- Flexion/Extension can be fixed at the neutral position, with the flat plane of the hand aligned with the forearm axis. It can be adjusted without significantly changing the position of the arms by rotating the hands around the axis of the grip.
- Deviation is sideways movement of the hand, towards the thumb is radial deviation and towards the little finger is ulnar deviation. The neutral position does not position a griped bar perpendicular to the axis of the forearm but rather that the third metacarpal bone is aligned with the forearm axis. One study found that a natural grip results in a mean angle of 65° between the grip axis and the third metacarpal, with the grip sweeping back as though the wrist was in 25° ulnar deviation. However, the standard deviation was 7°, due mostly to variation between individuals, suggesting significant adjustability may be desirable for this aspect of the grip position.
- Supination/Pronation: Rotation about the forearm axis is known as supination when the thumb is rotating towards the back of the hand and pronation when it is rotating towards the palm.

Kinematic chain from pelvis to head and shoulders

This section of the body is made up of the pelvis, abdomen, thorax, clavicles, neck and head. The pelvis is fixed at the saddle, but is free to rotate so that it tilts forwards. The clavicles are mated parallel with the front and top planes of the thorax, effectively forming one ridged body with the shoulders in a neutral position. Although the components could be mated in series, starting with the tilt angle of the hips and then setting the angle between each part, this would make it hard to set an overall lean angle. A reference part is therefore introduced with a plane that defines the lean angle. This part is mated with an axis through the hip joints and with an angle mate relative to the assembly Top plane.

A symmetry mate is used to apportion half of the forward lean to the pelvis tilt. The Front plane of the pelvis is the plane of symmetry. The seatpost angle and the forward lean planes are symmetric about it. The abdomen is mated parallel with the dummy lean plane, and the shoulder joints are set to be coincident with the forward lean plane.

Kinematic chain from hip joint to bottom bracket

Each leg can be considered separately, as a kinematic chain consisting of the crank, pedal/foot, lower leg, and upper leg.

These four bodies have 24 DoF, which are reduced by revolute joints at the knee, pedal axis and crank axle, and spherical joints at the hips and ankles, to leave three DoF:

Crank position is intentionally unconstrained to allow pedaling motion.
Foot angle from the floor varies between individuals but the toes are typically pointed downwards by an angle of approximately 15 degrees.
The spherical joints at the hip and ankle also allow the leg to rotate about an axis between these joints, so that the knee moves in a circular motion. Assuming the leg does not lock out into a fully extended position, this can be constrained by making a point on the knee joint coincident with the plane defining the pedal width.

Kinematic chain from shoulder to handlebar grip

The kinematic chain for each arm consists of the upper arm, lower arm and hand. These three bodies have 18 DoF, reduced to just two DoF by spherical joints at the shoulder and wrist, and revolute joints at the elbow and the grip of the hand around the bar. The remaining two DoF can be considered as:

Rotation of the hand around the handlebar
Rotation of the whole arm so that the elbow moves in a circular path about the axis between the shoulder and wrist joints

Setting the wrist to neutral flexion removes one DoF. This can be achieved by mating the hand’s top plane parallel with the forearm axis. There are several possible ways to remove the remaining DoF. It was found that the most practical and stable is with a distance mate between a point on the elbow joint and the Right plane of the assembly.

Adjusting and configuring the model

The assembly template contains three different anthropometric models, all configured as described above. These models represent a 5th percentile female, 50th percentile male and 95th percentile male. They can be activated by simply suppressing or suppressing the associated folders in the feature tree.

Different pre-configured body positions are also included. These are defined using a Mate Controller for each percentile model.

Conclusions

The bicycle and human model template enables the rapid evaluation of novel design concepts. Applications include ergonomic studies, mechanical clearance checks, aerodynamic simulation and product visualization. The simple parametric definitions allow easy adjustment of all the relevant variables in the bicycle geometry and rider position.

Extending the life of hip implants

September 17, 2020 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Using CAE technology to design durable implants and implement effective fatigue evaluation

Bone implant designs must be precise and durable to withstand significant load and pressure over time. One of the most frequent and severe joint inflictions, osteoarthritis, often requires administration of a Total Hip Replacement (THR). This implant, being significantly load-bearing, requires a complex design that is strong enough to withstand long durations of load.

Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) effectively tackled this challenge by developing 3D CAD models for implants and building an effective fatigue evaluation model to assess the life cycle of various implants. Through its proprietary CAE platform, MeshWorks, DEP used unique morphing and meshing tools to further understand non-standard hip implant geometries. This enabled DEP to carry out hypothetical test scenarios and estimate the fatigue life of implants, which resulted in significant benefits in extending the overall life of the implants.

DEP’s MeshWorks technology provides a platform that allows users to generate multiple, customizable designs based on customer variations, reduces design time compared to traditional methods of implant design, reduces design costs for companies and serves as a comparative tool for comparison with other competitive products.

With its in-house design team and CAE platform, DEP’s engineers calculate fatigue life cycles of implants and run multiple tests to help combat uncertainty once the implant is created and implemented.

DEP’s software introduces a faster time saving method of designing. In the conventional design process for an implant, the design is built as a 1D CAD data, then converted to a 3D CAD data and then into a 3D mesh data, on which virtual validation is conducted. This testing involves considerable back and forth with CAD data, which can be time consuming. In the new process, as soon as the 2D line data is available, it can be directly taken into MeshWorks and converted into a 3D mesh data. This 3D mesh is now parametric, and as virtual testing is conducted, changes can be done directly in the mesh data, and the time taken to and from design changes with CAD can be reduced.

Speaking on the latest development by the team, the Chief Innovation Officer at DEP, Mr. Karthik Shankaran said, “While working closely with biomedical companies, we found the need for specific mesh modeling tools, morphing tools and optimization techniques. This tool from MeshWorks will not only help companies save time as they use it for meshing and virtual validation but will help in the area of preparing regulatory and non-regulatory virtual validation reports for FDA before clinical trials as well.”

Detroit Engineered Products
www.depusa.com

A new 3D approach to remote design engineering

August 20, 2020 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

by Karl Maddix, co-founder and CEO of Masters of Pie

The coronavirus pandemic has forced almost every business to adapt to new ways of working. In many cases, conferencing services have saved the day – enabling remote teams to collaborate on projects when they can’t be in the same room. But two-dimensional (2D) conferencing is a poor substitute for engineers trying to work together remotely on complex 3D data to design the latest motor vehicle or jet engine.

And trying to untangle complex problems remotely from thousands of miles away is fraught with difficulties – even when using products like Microsoft’s Remote Assist. The expert often has to resort to waving their hands around on a screen to communicate to the technician which part of a machine they should be fixing – and which parts should be left alone.

Real-time immersive 3D collaboration is now adding a new dimension to such problem solving – users can share live, complex 3D files such as CAD data, interact with them and reveal ‘hidden’ parts deep within a machine that may be causing an issue. The technology also transforms day-to-day collaboration between remote engineering team members. Design reviews, for example, can be brought to life, with participants ‘walking through’ a model, no matter where they are in the world.

The fundamental problem at the root of many of these issues until now has been that enterprise teams have lacked the ability to effectively collaborate in real time using live, complex 3D data. The solution lies in purpose-built framework technology for integrating natively real-time collaboration and immersive device support directly into legacy enterprise software packages.

The key to enabling true real-time collaboration is to start where the data ‘sits’ and ensure that this original data ‘truth’ is the same for everybody when working together, no matter where they are located or what device they wish to use. This way, everyone in the team has the correct and most up-to-date information available.

Whether it is a CAD package, PLM software, an MRI scanner, robotic simulation software or a laser scanning system, many industries are becoming increasingly dependent on spatial data types and digital twins. These complex data formats are usually incompatible or just too cumbersome to use ‘as is’ in existing collaboration platforms such as Webex, Skype, Google docs or Slack – all built primarily for 2D data formats such as video, text or images.

Moreover, the legacy software generating the data itself is unlikely to have any in-built real-time collaboration functionality – forcing enterprise users to resort to one of two methods. One option is to manually export the data, carry out a painful and time-consuming reformatting process, then manually import the newly crunched data into some type of third-party standalone collaboration package. The alternative is to ignore the spatial nature of the data entirely and instead screen-grab or render out 2D ‘flat’ images of the original 3D data for use in a basic PowerPoint presentation or something similar.

Neither of these methods allows teams to efficiently collaborate using a live data truth – i.e. the original data itself instead of a reformatted, already out-of-date interpretation of it. So, both methods only compound the root collaboration problem instead of helping to solve it.

The latest generation of real-time immersive 3D collaboration technology is integrated directly into the host software, grabbing the original data at source before efficiently pushing it into a real-time environment which users can access using their choice of device (VR, AR, desktop, browser or mobile) for instant and intuitive collaboration. End-to-end encryption ensures that even the most sensitive data may be confidently shared across remote locations.

The integration into the host package provides not only a live connection to the data but also a bi-directional connection, meaning that users are still connected to the host software package running in the background. The advantage of this over standalone applications is that it still gives access to core features of the host package – enabling accurate measurement of a CAD model using vertex or spline snapping to the original B-Rep held in the CAD package, for example. All the underlying metadata from the host package is also available to the immersive experience – and annotations, snapshots, action lists or spatial co-ordinate changes can be saved back into the host package.

The new post-pandemic requirement to have a distributed workforce – in conjunction with the rollout and adoption of key technology enablers such as server-side rendering and high-capacity, low-latency connectivity – is set to accelerate the adoption and integration of real-time immersive collaboration solutions. In the future, 5G technology will also open up the potential to stream to immersive AR and VR devices – untethering the experience and facilitating factory-wide adoption of immersive solutions. For example, as ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ (IIoT) data streams from smart devices in the factory, it will be overlaid via AR glasses in the physical space. And as cloud service providers build out features such as spatial anchoring to support ever-larger physical spaces, these new services will be used within collaborative environments rich with real-time data.

Factory workers, for example, will have the ability to ‘dial an expert’ directly from a virtual panel on a smart factory device. This offsite expert will appear as a holographic colleague and bring with them live 3D data for that individual machine. Both users will have real-time IIoT data overlaid intuitively on the fully interactive 3D model to facilitate a more effective diagnosis and maintenance process.

Empowering shop-floor workers with hands-free AR and detailed 3D data will dramatically improve assembly line efficiency, with an intuitive environment where product data is fully interactive. Users will be able to move, hide, isolate and cross-section through parts, while using mark-up and voice tools to create efficient instructions for the assembly or disassembly of complex products. These instructions will be recorded and delivered as holographic guides via AR directly on the assembly line.

The next generation of real-time immersive 3D collaboration technology is even set to enable you to have a scaled-down hologram of your latest engine design sitting right in front of you on your desk. As you work on the design and refine it using your CAD software, the changes will be dynamically loaded into the hologram so that you can see the effects immediately and make any further necessary adjustments.

Meanwhile, digital sleeving – with 3D images overlaid on physical designs – will enable you to check how two parts of the engine come together, even when they are being designed by different teams in different locations. Similarly, you will be able to see how, for example, cabling will fit inside your latest aircraft seat design or where best to put the maintenance pockets for easy access.

This kind of approach adds a new dimension to the handoff between design and manufacturing. If adjustments need to be made to a fan assembly design, for example, the relevant part can be isolated within an immersive design review – and speech-to-text notes can be added to the part number and automatically become part of the change request. It’s all a far cry from endless design iterations, spreadsheets and printouts – or CAD screen shares using a 2D representation of a 3D problem.

In the post-pandemic remote world, conferencing is bringing people, video and documents together. Collaboration is now adding the fourth dimension of 3D immersive experience to complete the picture.

Volume Graphics version 3.4 CT-Software includes Scan-to-CAD reverse engineering capabilities

July 9, 2020 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Digital analysis and physical testing are increasingly integrated with the pursuit of optimized product design and development across a wide swath of industries. With the release of its VGSTUDIO MAX version 3.4 software, Volume Graphics has added and augmented important functions that help designers and manufacturers capture and interrogate product data to improve final quality.

When there’s no 3D CAD model of an object available, VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4’s Reverse Engineering Module provides a suite of capabilities in one automated package. The Module can generate surfaces from a CT scan, or any voxel model converted from a closed mesh/point cloud scan, using an auto-surface function that is fast and accurate. This new function allows manually generated design models to be available digitally—without the need for a CAD designer or reverse-engineering specialist.

The new Reverse Engineering Module in VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4 makes it easy to convert CT scans into CAD models that can be used in any CAD system without the need for a CAD designer or reverse engineering specialist.

An important benefit is the ability to generate and archive 3D CAD models of legacy parts, as well as update those models in which the actual part or tool deviates from the master CAD model. This automates the creation of digital twins of individual parts and allows for validation of the model-to-part relationship. The recreated or newly validated CAD model can be exported as a STEP file to any CAD system. The software also enables CAM systems to mill on CAD instead of meshes.

Compare components or samples over time to detect damage and calculate strains with DVC
Measuring strain and quantifying and visualizing defects in material samples due to external loads are key tasks for materials scientists. The new Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) Module in VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4 helps users to quantify displacements and strains simply and intuitively between multiple states over time. It enables a precise insight into the material at hand, e.g., to detect cracks and to measure the local strain.

Displacement between two datasets acquired during an in-situ test on a fiber-reinforced polymer, as visualized in VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4 software. Data provided by the Institute of Applied Materials at Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) in Germany.

This is particularly useful for gaining a deeper understanding of foams, fiber composite materials, or additively manufactured (AM, aka 3D-printed) porous samples or components. Voxel-based, three-dimensional volumes are automatically correlated by the software, allowing for before-and-after comparisons of in-situ experiments. Results are visualized in extreme detail, making it easy to pinpoint exactly where defects or damage have occurred.

The user can quantify and visualize problems like cracks and pores, which can be missed by the naked eye, by comparing datasets at different states over time with the initial undamaged data. Results are visualized via color overlay, vector fields or strain lines. The equivalent strain or single components of the strain tensor can be shown as a color overlay and mapped directly on a volume mesh to validate the results of FEA simulations.

VGSTUDIO MAX also allows for mapping microstructure information such as fiber orientation, fiber-volume content, or matrix porosity on the same mesh that is used for the FEA. This allows the user to consider all significant microstructure information within a mechanical model and validate it by comparing FEA and DVC results.

VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4 provides stunning visualizations that show a spatial impression of the displacement field.

DVC is not only helpful in the laboratory—it is also a powerful tool to detect internal damage for maintenance of composite materials, like those in a helicopter blade, by comparing a scan acquired after manufacturing with another scan of the same part after several years of use.

Other enhancements to version 3.4
In addition to the new reverse engineering and volume comparison enhancements, VGSTUDIO MAX 3.4 also includes:

–New visualization options for deviations of geometric tolerances to answer questions such as: Where exactly are the highest deviations located? How are the deviations distributed on a surface? Which areas of the surface were actually evaluated?
–Subvoxel-accurate defect detection with VGEasyPore to differentiate between gas pores and shrinkage cavities.
–Stress tensor export in a .csv file of stress fields calculated using the VGSTUDIO MAX Structural –Mechanics Simulation Module, e.g., for fatigue analysis.
–New, more intuitive Tool Dock that reduces mouse travel needed to navigate.
–Support of 4K displays for a crisper, sharper, and scalable graphical user interface.

Volume Graphics software provides a visual, comprehensive, and easily understandable representation of a part’s geometrical deviations. Depending on the toleranced element, certain methods for visualizing the actual deviations can be activated, e.g., a colored and scaled deviation vector for position tolerances (above), while simultaneously showing entire patterns of position tolerances.

Many of the enhanced capabilities released in this latest version of Volume Graphics’ software have been developed with direct input from customers. The result is a high-performance, automated package of CT-scan data analysis and visualization tools that supports design and development engineers, and manufacturers, in producing the highest-quality, most-competitive products possible.

Volume Graphics
www.volumegraphics.com

2020 & beyond: 6 more megatrends to watch in engineering modeling & simulation

June 8, 2020 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Bruce Jenkins | Ora Research

Early last year we reviewed in this blog post eight megatrends in engineering modeling and simulation that dominate the thinking and decision-making of engineering organizations and their technology providers today, and that we believe will continue to do so well into the years ahead. We wrote then:

This second decade of the twenty-first century is witnessing an explosion of invention and innovation in digital engineering technologies unrivaled since the 1980s, when so many foundational tools and methods were either created or brought to practical fruition. Here are eight megatrends that we believe will drive generational leaps forward in engineering modeling and simulation technologies, methods and work processes through 2020 and well beyond:

Simulation-led, systems-driven product development.
Democratization of engineering modeling and simulation.
Simulation app revolution.
Design space exploration.
Topology, materials and process optimization for additive manufacturing.
Simulation for the Industrial IoT and Industry 4.0.
Big-data analytics in simulation.
Cloud HPC for simulation.

Now, here are six more large-scale trends that we think are already beginning to drive major technology developments and end-user investments aimed at fostering cost, schedule, quality, performance and innovation improvements in the engineering and production of discretely manufactured products (many will benefit process manufacturers and other AEC industry participants as well):

21^st– century data management: Separate the data from the data model (Aras, Onshape, Frustum…).
From PIDO to fully automated design space exploration: 20+ years of evolution—then a revolution.
New requirements-management technologies that automatically link—via new systems-level engineering technologies—requirements fulfillment during the course of system-level product design (MapleSIM, Simulink…) back to digitally captured system requirements definitions (SysML, Rational Rhapsody…), and automatically track and report divergences and convergences between the two as the design evolves.
Generative design design space exploration: What’s alike? What’s different? When is each appropriate?
AI and ML (machine learning) in engineering modeling and simulation—the next steps beyond big-data analytics for simulation.
Further breakthroughs in co-simulation: Simultaneous instead of step-wise simulation of multiple physical domains, and at multiple (mixed) fidelities—0D, 1D, 2D, 3D; also 4D and 5D in AEC.

Previews

21^st– century data management

Aras’s insight to separate the data from the data model makes them, a bit ironically, the technology vendor that will relieve legacy PLM vendors of the prohibitive burden of somehow hoisting their SQL-based PDM offerings into the cloud, yet still link them into today’s truly “open” world. Because Aras’s technology architecture has already done it for them, before them.

And without charging a penny for the technology. Aras makes its software available as freeware. Users can download, evaluate, and implement it in production usage—all for zero dollars. If users then need customization and integration to link into their unique multi-application environments, Aras is available to do this, for fair and reasonable service fees. An extraordinarily apt 21^st-century business model, we think.

From PIDO to fully automated design space exploration: 20+ years of evolution—then a revolution

This breakthrough was sparked by HEEDS from Red Cedar Technology, a paradigm-disrupting startup that commercialized university-developed technology under the leadership of Bob Ryan, and was subsequently acquired by Siemens PLM. HEEDS has set a new direction now being pursued by almost every major DSE technology provider.

Generative design vs. contemporary design space exploration

When early adopters of generative design technology discover what fully automated design space exploration technology can do, will they feel underserved by their generative-design technology providers putting forth tools that still require, today, an arguably unnecessary exertion of effort by engineers and designers in making decisions that the software should be making for them?

Or, instead, is generative design an entirely appropriate technology for disciplines and end-user markets where not all problems and sought-for outcomes can be expressed in an entirely determinative manner? The jury is still out on this one, we believe. After users gain more experience with both approaches—and with continuing maturation of both technology classes—time will tell.

Looking forward

Watching the answers to all these questions take shape is going to be fascinating. We greatly look forward to following and reporting here on these and many more game-changing technologies and trends as they unfold in the quarters and years to come. Stay tuned!

Selected background reading

Aras acquires Comet Solutions

HEEDS MDO

MapleMBSE from Maplesoft radically expands accessibility of model-based systems engineering

CosiMate from Chiastek: Co-simulation conduit for multifidelity systems modeling

Cloud-native CAD will disrupt the PLM platform paradigm