Creating New Possibilities for Additive Manufacturing, Stratasys Removes Complexity From Design-to-3D Print Process

SOLIDWORKS WORLD – Empowering designers and engineers to embrace new 3D printed possibilities, Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) is further removing complexity from design-to-3D print processes. GrabCAD Print’s Advanced FDM feature is aimed at ensuring design intent via intuitive model interaction to rapidly deliver strong, light, and purpose-built parts.

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GrabCAD Advanced FDM eliminates the CAD-to-STL conversion process - creating new possibilities for designers and engineers with 3D Printing. (Graphic: Business Wire)

By avoiding laborious CAD-to-STL conversion, users are able to work in high fidelity and rapidly advance the design-to-3D print process– which can lead to boosting both time-to-market and time-to-revenue. Advanced FDM is designed to speed part production, while maintaining creation of purpose-built parts that minimize weight without compromising strength.

“For design and manufacturing engineers, one of the most frustrating processes is ‘dumbing down’ a CAD file to STL format - only to require subsequent re-injection of design intent into the STL printing process,” said Mark Walker, Lead Software Product Manager at Stratasys. “This software is engineered to do away with this complexity, letting designers reduce iterations and design cycles – getting to a high-quality, realistic prototype and final part faster than ever before.”

With rich CAD-native build controls, the solution doesn’t require manual generation of complex toolpaths – cutting overall programming times for 3D printing. Intuitive features achieve desired part characteristics through automatic control of FDM build attributes. Engineers easily select areas on native design geometry and specify design attributes – letting Advanced FDM automatically calculate 3D print toolpaths.

“GrabCAD Print Advanced FDM’s geometry-based workflows have allowed us to fine-tune part builds – meeting application requirements and process parts more quickly than we could before,” said Robert Heath, Additive Manufacturing Application Engineer at Eckhart. “The seamless transition of moving a build between applications is easy and intuitive.”

Assigning attributes directly to CAD models, users pinpoint areas of strength and rigidity, control infills, ensure sufficient material around holes with inserts, and avoid seams. Since toolpaths are automatically generated from model assignments, the user can expect to spend significantly less time on part setup, without losing strong, high-quality, purpose-built FDM parts.