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AM progresses as EOS, Siemens intensify cooperation around industrial 3D printing

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Bruce Jenkins | Ora Research

The race to dominate digital engineering technologies and physical production devices for additive manufacturing just took a significant step forward with a new, tighter cooperation between Siemens and EOS.

EOS, which bills itself—with considerable credibility—as “the world’s leading technology supplier in the field of industrial 3D printing of metals and polymers,” and Siemens announced an intensification of their collaboration to further accelerate additive manufacturing (AM) technology and its application across manufacturing industry. The new level of cooperation comes particularly in the areas of software, automation and drive technology, and use of AM technology:

  • Siemens control and drive components are part of the new EOS M 300 series for metal additive manufacturing.
  • EOS’ job and process management software EOSPRINT 2 now integrates into the AM module of Siemens NX 12.
  • Siemens will introduce an EOS P 500 system for polymer industrial 3D printing into its Additive Manufacturing Experience Center in Erlangen, Germany.

New EOS M 300 series includes Siemens automation and drive technology

EOS says it “expands its portfolio of well proven systems for metal additive manufacturing with the EOS M 300 series. The solution is an automation-ready, future-proof platform that is configurable, scalable and secure. For this, EOS also trusts in control and drive components from the Siemens comprehensive Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) portfolio.”

Said Alfons Eiterer, EOS Head of System Engineering, “EOS puts a strong focus on high quality and reliability in its new developments, while at the same time ensuring dynamical and technological progress. This is the reason we chose Siemens control technology for our new EOS M 300 series. With Siemens we can rely on proven technical components and are well prepared to handle future requirements.”

He continued, “With EOS as a strategic partner in the field of industrial 3D printing, Siemens has not only equipped the EOS M 300 series with components, but also the EOS P 500 wystem for polymer 3D printing on an industrial scale, as showcased first time at last year’s formnext fair.”

EOSPRINT driver for Siemens NX 12 integration

EOS and Siemens say EOSPRINT 2 is an “intuitive, open and productive CAM tool that allows businesses to optimize CAD data for EOS systems. Siemens NX 12 is a seamless end-to-end solution starting with design, via topology optimization and process simulation to print preparation in one user interface.” Now that an EOSPRINT driver for the Siemens NX12 AM module is available, EOSPRINT 2 functions are seamlessly integrated into Siemens’ NX Fixed Plane (Powder Bed) AM software module.

An EOSPRINT driver for the Siemens NX 12 AM module enables seamless integration of EOSPRINT 2 functions into Siemens’ NX AM Fixed Plane (Powder Bed) module software. Source: EOS GmbH

This integration, the companies say, supports Siemens’ overall additive manufacturing solution offering, which “helps to deliver an integrated and associatively linked additive manufacturing process from design to advanced 3D printing with EOS systems. As a result, engineers benefit from a quick and uninterrupted path from product idea to 3D printed part.”

EOS P-500 becomes part of Siemens Additive Manufacturing Experience Center

Siemens says it is going to extend its Additive Manufacturing Experience Center (AMEC) in Erlangen, Germany with the EOS P 500 system. The AMEC, says Siemens, “provides an excellent overview and insight into different industrial AM technologies and information about the challenging industrial requirements for AM-design, simulation and production. It also offers an interactive experience where the integrated, seamless AM chain and the AM-relevant products of Siemens are shown.”

“A fast industrialization of additive manufacturing can only be unleashed by a close cooperation of experts from a software, automation and drive-system angle with industrial 3D printing experts, as is the case with Siemens and EOS,” remarked Dr. Karsten Heuser, VP of Additive Manufacturing at Siemens AG. “We are therefore proud to move with EOS into the next level of industrialization, which will help transform additive manufacturing further from the prototyping phase into industrial serial production.”

EOS

EOSPRINT 2

EOS P 500

Additive Manufacturing Experience Center (AMEC)

GENERATE for Windows OS is an interactive Generative Design software

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Frustum Inc., innovator of interactive generative design solutions, announced a new release of its GENERATE software. GENERATE represents a new paradigm for design, interactive generative design, which fundamentally alters how products are modeled for manufacture by allowing engineers to interact and iterate in real time with generative design models. As a result, engineers can develop multiple perfectly designed and optimized models to identify the best solution in a matter of minutes versus hours or days previously.

Designed to meet the complex needs of design for manufacturing, GENERATE is a 3D design software to offer interactivity with generative design models. It combines the creativity of the engineer with artificial intelligence to significantly shorten the time of designing high performing products – effectively delivering a near real-time interaction with a generative design model, generating designs by functional requirements and producing a result that is ready for manufacture. Parts and products designed through this process are lighter, stronger and use far less materials than those designed using traditional CAD software.

“With GENERATE, designers and engineers can interactively specify the functional requirements of their design and the design will automatically be modeled to meet those requirements. The design output is functional and does not have to be remodeled in CAD,” said Jesse Coors-Blankenship, CEO, Frustum Inc. “We developed GENERATE on a multi-threaded architecture that was built from the ground-up to deliver faster design output by leveraging both CPU and GPU computing optionally. GENERATE will redefine how manufacturers get products to market, reduce materials costs and improve the overall performance of products.”

Built on its patented generative engine, TrueSOLID, GENERATE couples advanced topology optimization and simulation algorithms with real-time interaction to quickly produce high-performing, ready to manufacture mechanical designs. It is functionally parametric and facilitates perfect blending of generative geometry to traditional surface-based CAD with engineering precision. The technology is currently being commercially licensed to Siemens PLM software and integrated into Siemens NX and Siemens SolidEdge.

The new Windows-based GENERATE design software includes the following features:

  • Native CAD file import
  • Single and multi-body optimizations
  • Multiple loads and constraints
  • Realtime FEA
  • Standard and user-defined material library
  • Interactive design changes
  • Windows 64-bit multi-threaded architecture
  • STL export with user-defined resolution
  • Optionally GPU-enabled with NVIDIA

The GENERATE design software is now available.

Frustum Inc.
www.frustum.com

Boeing extends partnership with Siemens’ Mentor Graphics

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Siemens announces that Boeing has entered into an agreement to expand its use of Siemens’ Mentor Graphics software as part of its Second Century Enterprise Systems (2CES) initiative to transform itself, and the aerospace industry, to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. As the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing stands ready to lead the industry into the next 100 years with Siemens as a partner, providing a set of technologies to enable the next generation of design and manufacturing through increased automation and digitalization.

This decision follows a comprehensive analysis of available solutions including current and future capabilities, technology flexibility to meet changing requirements in real world applications and overall business value to Boeing. The long term agreement provides industry-leading Siemens technology in the areas of electrical systems design, electronic products design and mechanical analysis as a foundation for Boeing to consistently deliver comprehensive and innovative solutions to its customers. Focusing on technologies from Siemens’ Mentor Graphics acquisition, Boeing will standardize on a common, company-wide platform for semiconductor design and verification, printed wire board design and manufacture, electrical system design and manufacture (including wire harness) and thermal and fluid analysis of mechanical designs.

“Our partnership with the Siemens-Mentor team will combine best-in-class electrical design tools with Boeing’s vast experience and knowledge in our 2CES transformation of electrical design,” said John Harnagel, Engineering Director, Boeing Defense and Space.

“Siemens is proud to have been chosen as one of Boeing’s partners for its second century vision and transformation. Our ability to help customers drive digitalization and realize innovation is our core strength, and we are pleased to see that Boeing values that strength,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens PLM Software. “This partnership is a measure of Boeing’s trust in Siemens to help them deliver its vision, and we at Siemens are looking forward to helping them make it happen.”

Siemens PLM Software
www.siemens.com/plm

SOLIDWORKS 2019 includes Extended Reality to experience designs in VR, AR

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Dassault Systèmes launched SOLIDWORKS 2019, the latest release of its portfolio of 3D design and engineering applications. SOLIDWORKS 2019 delivers enhancements and new functions that help innovators get products into production faster, and create new categories of experiences for new categories of customers in today’s Industry Renaissance.

Powered by Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, SOLIDWORKS 2019 supports the design to manufacturing process with digital capabilities to solve complex design challenges and facilitate detail work in engineering. New features let product development teams better manage large amounts of data and capture a more complete digital representation of a design. The program also offers new technologies and workflows that improve collaboration and enable immersive, interactive experiences during design and engineering.

 

“We are using SOLIDWORKS to support implementation of the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer 10-meter-class telescope that will open new possibilities for scientific discovery,” said Greg Green, Mechanical Designer/Instrument Maker, Canada France Hawaii telescope facility. “Our design processes generate a large and growing dataset. The final production version of the telescope will contain over 100,000 parts. We needed technology that can tackle large design projects, and SOLIDWORKS delivers.”

Among its new features, SOLIDWORKS 2019 provides greater design flexibility to quickly interrogate or rapidly make changes to a model through an enhanced Large Design Review capability. It also improves performance view manipulation to scale with higher-end graphics hardware. In addition, SOLIDWORKS 2019 allows teams to communicate outside of the design community by adding markups to parts and assemblies directly using a touch device, storing them with the model, and exporting them as a PDF.

Another feature is SOLIDWORKS Extended Reality (XR), a new application for publishing CAD scene data created in SOLIDWORKS – including lights, cameras, materials, decals, and motion study animations – and experiencing it in VR, AR and web viewers. Engineers can use SOLIDWORKS XR to improve collaborative internal and external design reviews, sell designs more effectively, train users how to assemble and interact with their products, and boost confidence in designs throughout the product development process.

Dassault Systèmes
www.solidworks.com/product/whats-new

 

Utilities for Autodesk software

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IMAGINiT Technologies’ customers who subscribe to Autodesk software have complimentary access to several new IMAGINiT Utilities for Autodesk Revit, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D and Autodesk Vault Client. With more than 40 individual IMAGINiT utilities now available, building information modeling (BIM) coordinators and computer aided design (CAD) managers can increase team efficiencies and reduce human error by automating redundancies.

“IMAGINiT utilities extend the power of your Autodesk software, and each year, our development team releases new utilities to ensure customers spend their time focused on the design process instead of manual tasks,” says Bill Zavadil, senior vice president of professional services, IMAGINiT Technologies. “Our utilities aim to automate those time consuming, manual tasks, thereby freeing up design teams so that they can accomplish more in less time.”

IMAGINiT Utilities for Autodesk Revit

Now with 27 tools that run directly inside Revit software, IMAGINiT Utilities for Revit include three new utilities.

New Utilities for Revit 2019 include:

Annotation Font Update scans the model for all font references and, through an easy-to-use wizard, allows users to update fonts throughout the entire model.

Family Placement looks at families that are in a folder structure and – with just a few clicks – allows users to load and place them so they are available in the current model. Running as a Palette inside Revit, it is available to users whenever needed.

Shared Parameter Check scans your model for the shared parameters that should be migrated to your centralized file or for inconsistent shared parameter identifiers and type/instance settings.

IMAGINiT Utilities for AutoCAD Civil 3D

With the addition of this latest tool, IMAGINiT Utilities for Civil 3D now includes a total of 10 tools designed to help BIM coordinators, infrastructure project managers and CAD champions to increase collaboration by leveraging new design workflows.

KML/KMZ Import brings geometry from Google Earth/Google Maps into the model allowing the creation of new workflows and collaboration with individuals who do not need access to Civil 3D. Individuals can mark out areas for development in Google Earth/Google Maps and engineers can import the KML file into Civil 3D to create a baseline for the design.

IMAGINiT Utilities for Autodesk Vault Client

IMAGINiT Utilities for Vault Client help CAD managers and non-CAD users better manage data workflows. New tools for 2019 are:

Create Local Folders allows users to generate folders in their Windows working folder hierarchy to match the Vault folders.

Visual Lifecycle Tab provides a visual description of the current file’s lifecycle definition, including its current state as well as the available transitions to other states.

Link Generator easily sends information to others by retrieving links to the Vault Thin Client for selected items or files.

Auto-Update Folder Properties to File offers a way to quickly synchronize properties applied at the folder level to corresponding properties at the file level.

IMAGINiT Utilities Availability

IMAGINiT Utilities for Revit, IMAGINiT Utilities for AutoCAD Civil 3D and IMAGINiT Utilities for Vault Client are available to customers maintaining their annual Autodesk subscription through IMAGINiT. These free software utilities can be accessed via IMAGINiT’s ProductivityNOW Portal. Those who are not already IMAGINiT customers may purchase these utilities directly from the IMAGINiT eStore.

IMAGINiT Technologies
www.imaginit.com

COMSOL announces deadline to submit presentation abstracts for the COMSOL Conference 2018

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COMSOL announced that the Program Committee of the COMSOL Conference 2018 has started to accept abstract submissions for posters and papers. Presenters will have the opportunity to showcase their modeling and simulation work to colleagues within industry and academia and get recognized for their contributions to the simulation community. The conference fosters an environment that opens a dialogue for advancing skills and further innovation in multiphysics modeling.

The papers and posters accepted for presentation will reach approximately 2,000 conference attendees across the globe. Additionally, the Conference proceedings are then published online for public access, amplifying the reach beyond those directly in attendance.

“The COMSOL Conference provides the best opportunity to talk with other users about their experiences and challenges. Such cross-fertilization provides great opportunities for professional growth.” said Kyle Koppenhoefer, AltaSim Technologies, a COMSOL certified consultant.

The COMSOL Conference 2018 Boston will be held October 3-5, 2018 at the Boston Marriott Newton hotel. For a list of worldwide events and deadlines visit: www.comsol.com/conference.

Suggested topic areas for papers and posters include, but are not limited to:
• AC/DC Electromagnetics
• Acoustics and Vibrations
• Batteries, Fuel Cells, and Electrochemical Processes
• Bioscience and Bioengineering
• Chemical Reaction Engineering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Electromagnetic Heating
• Geophysics and Geomechanics
• Heat Transfer and Phase Change
• MEMS and Nanotechnology
• Microfluidics
• Multiphysics
• Optics, Photonics, and Semiconductors
• Optimization and Inverse Methods
• Particle Tracing
• Piezoelectric Devices
• Plasma Physics
• RF and Microwave Engineering
• Simulation Methods and Teaching
• Structural Mechanics and Thermal Stresses
• Transport Phenomena

“Presenting a poster, paper, or both at the COMSOL Conference is a great opportunity to gain exposure, establish your credibility within the simulation community, and connect with specialists in your field” says Sarah Fields, Program Chair for the Boston conference.

Each location has a program committee of simulation specialists from industry and academia who review the abstract submissions and assist in selecting the best paper and poster winners at the Conference.

Presentation guidelines for oral and poster presentations, and more details about the COMSOL Conference 2018, visit: www.comsol.com/conference/call-for-papers.

COMSOL
www.comsol.com

COMSOL Days 2018 hits the road in Paris this spring

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COMSOL is excited to announce the COMSOL Days 2018 schedule of events for the worldwide tour. COMSOL Days offer a full day program with technical presentations and breakout sessions focusing on major application areas of multiphysics simulation. COMSOL Days are free-of-charge, welcoming engineers and researchers to connect with COMSOL software users, get inspired by invited speakers, and meet with COMSOL technical staff. The events begin with an overview of the COMSOL Multiphysics software and how apps can be used to spread simulation throughout an organization. The program offers different tracks and learning opportunities for new and experienced simulation users on a variety of topics and disciplines. Attendees at a COMSOL Day event will leave with the knowledge of how to use simulation to boost productivity and optimize design and research methods.

“COMSOL Days is an investment we make into building the user community” says Jeff Hiller, VP of Sales, COMSOL, Inc. “We are able to bring together technical specialists within our organization and partner them with current and prospective customers across the globe. Here they get to share best practices in multiphysics simulation and app development and deployment.”

The COMSOL Days worldwide cities include:

  • Paris, France, March 6
  • Edinburgh, UK, March 8
  • Grenoble, France, March 13
  • Bethesda, MD, US, April 5
  • Munich, Germany, April 12
  • Stockholm, Sweden, April 12
  • Houston, TX, US, April 19
  • Montreal, Quebec, May 2
  • Brescia, Italy, May 9
  • Detroit, MI, US, May 10
  • San Jose, CA, US, May 16
  • Orange County, CA, US, May 17
  • Goteborg, Sweden, May 22
  • Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, May 24
  • Gottingen, Germany, May 29
  • Rome, Italy, June 5
  • Stuttgart, Germany, June 14
  • Columbus, OH, US, June 21
  • Lund, Sweden, September 25
  • Boston, MA, US, TBD
  • Eindhoven, Netherlands, TBD
  • Saint Petersburg, Russia, TBD

For more details about COMSOL Days and to register, visit: www.comsol.com/comsol-days.

COMSOL

Italian automotive supplier Blutec selects Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Platform for automotive industrial project

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Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that the 3DEXPERIENCE platform was chosen by Blutec Srl to support its 300 million euro automotive industrial project in collaboration with Invitalia, the Italian Ministry of Economy’s agency for investment and business development.

Blutec will relaunch an automotive industrial site in Termini Imerese, Sicily that was shut down in 2011 and repurpose it to manufacture hybrid and electric vehicles for the international automotive industry, as well as gradually reemploy the former facility’s 700-person workforce. Blutec will deploy Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform to train employees on sustainable industrial innovation and use the “Electro Mobility Accelerator” industry solution experience to imagine, design, simulate and deliver new vehicle concepts. The project is expected to be fully implemented in 2018.

“Blutec’s mission for the Termini Imerese site is to produce components and an innovative series of green vehicles for the most prestigious car manufacturers and bring social and economic benefits to the region,” said Cosimo Di Cursi, CEO, Blutec. “When our bid to revitalize this important industrial area was selected by Invitalia over 22 other candidates, our first investment was in Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. We consider this technology to be the fundamental starting point for conceiving, creating and selling a highly technological product that requires intensive research and development activity.”

“Electro Mobility Accelerator” will provide Blutec with a collaborative digital environment to virtually define, evaluate and validate the performance of components and custom trimmings for limited edition cars as well as for an exclusive series of hybrid and electric cars based on existing models that will feature eco-friendly changes to lower emissions.

“Blutec’s automotive industrial renaissance project aims to build a creative hub for manufacturing that will contribute to a new and sustainable transportation and mobility marketplace,” said Olivier Sappin, Vice President, Transportation & Mobility Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “The 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers multi-domain digital capabilities that are essential for next generation electric vehicle research and development and will support Blutec’s targeted level of innovation and industrial leadership.”

Dassault Systèmes
www.3ds.com/industries/transportation-mobility/

Boeing and Dassault Systèmes announce extended partnership

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Dassault Systèmes and Boeing have extended their partnership. Boeing will expand its deployment of Dassault Systèmes’ products across its commercial aviation, space and defense programs to include the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

This decision follows a competitive process that included the rigorous analysis of technical and functional capabilities, cost and business benefits across the value chain.  Boeing will deploy the 3DEXPERIENCE platform in phases and rely on Winning Program, Co-Design to Target, Ready for Rate, Build to Operate and License to Fly industry solution experiences for aerospace and defense to deepen its end to end digital collaboration, design, engineering, analysis, manufacturing planning and shop floor execution capabilities throughout the enterprise.

“Dassault Systèmes is proud to collaborate with Boeing as it embarks on another century of innovation with a partner it trusts.  Boeing not only leads the way in its own industry, but influences the progress of all industries across modern society,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “We are at the turning point of the industrial era, where we are shattering another industry paradigm.  The parallel exchange of data between virtual and real operations will transform the value-adding chain into a value creation chain.  The entire ‘extended’ enterprise can continuously measure and control business processes for maximum efficiency and potential top line growth.  This is ‘Business in the Age of Experience.’”

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform can reduce integration and support costs, improve productivity, foster new innovation, and aid in the introduction of best practice processes to deliver standard work across the value chain.  The 3DEXPERIENCE platform can not only simulate products and processes, but also find and eliminate potential risks and quality issues before production.  The platform’s single source of data across all applications will provide reliable and actionable real-time information and seamless communication throughout the entire enterprise and supply chain as well as across product generations.  This digital continuity will improve data and analytics capabilities.

“The decision to adopt Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform is a key milestone in our digital transformation. This digital enabler provides global design and manufacturing capabilities that will fuel our second century,” said Ted Colbert, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Information Technology & Data Analytics, Boeing. “The value of this extended strategic partnership is a mutual desire to transform how Boeing connects, protects, explores and inspires the world.”

Dassault Systèmes’
www.3ds.com

Dassault Systèmes acquires AITAC, enhancing its Marine & Offshore portfolio

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Dassault Systèmes  announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire AITAC BV, a Dutch company specialized in marine and offshore engineering software.  With this acquisition, Dassault Systèmes will further strengthen its solutions designed to bring digital transformation to the marine and offshore industry by providing cutting-edge, industry-specific technologies for its 3DEXPERIENCE platform customers.

AITAC’s Smart Drawings software application is used by shipyards and offshore companies to automate the creation of drawings from a master 3D model of a ship, platform or other structure designed using Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA applications. This automation is based on rules and templates that account for marine-specific standards, behaviors and local requirements.  Companies can significantly reduce the cost of drawings production, improve the quality of certification documents, and maximize the value of the master 3D model.

Dassault Systèmes will fully integrate the Smart Drawings application into its “Designed for Sea” and “Optimized Production for Sea” industry solution experiences based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, used by companies for the design, validation and manufacturing planning of marine and offshore projects.

As part of the deal, Dassault Systèmes also acquires 40 percent of AITAC’s marine and offshore engineering office in Croatia, AITAC d.o.o., a provider of naval architecture and engineering services to major shipbuilders.

“We have always been passionate about transforming the way marine and offshore companies use 3D and we work hard to provide our customers with the best experience of a 3D master approach,” said Marc Journeux, Co-director, AITAC.  “Dassault Systèmes has always been a fantastic partner for us, and we truly believed this is the only company able to take this market to the next step. Now our team is excited to join Dassault Systèmes to accelerate the pace of innovation.”

The marine and offshore industry has routinely relied on disconnected departments to produce traditional drawings managed as individual documents.  Now, it is gradually moving to a single master 3D multidisciplinary model allowing digital continuity for marine projects, from initial concept to manufacturing and operations.

“For years, AITAC has been a software partner of Dassault Systèmes supporting its 3DEXPERIENCE platform customers and now we’re taking this long and fruitful partnership to the next level,” said Alain Houard, Vice President, Marine & Offshore Industry, Dassault Systèmes.  “AITAC’s long-term experience, expertise and team of naval architects and engineers will help us to extend our marine and offshore portfolio’s capabilities and support customer deployment projects.”

The transaction was completed on June 1, 2017.

Dassault Systèmes in the Marine & Offshore industry:
www.3ds.com/industries/marine-offshore/