Learn How to Design for Additive Manufacturing

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3D Printing techniques have come a long way since they were first introduced and used mainly for the purposes of rapid prototyping. Since then, advances in technology enabled designers and engineers to use a variety of processes and materials to produce complex shapes or geometries at scale, while cutting down on costs. In order to reap the true benefits of the additive manufacturing process, engineers must optimize their designs for manufacturability using 3D printers.

In April, we invited special guest Paul DeWys, sales engineer and owner of DeWys Engineering and Forerunner 3D, to discuss what it means to design for additive manufacturing. Paul is a longtime SOLIDWORKS user who started his own engineering business that specializes in automation and machine design back in 2010.

With the rise of 3D printing and MakerBots, Paul saw the opportunity to bring together machine design and additive manufacturing, starting the Forerunner 3D Printing business unit, specializing in design for additive manufacturing.

In this episode, Paul shared his expertise about 3D additive manufacturing, the different types of 3D printing technologies available, namely Stereolithography (SLA), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), and Multi-Jet Infusion (MJF). In addition, he demonstrated design examples for each of the 3D printing technologies as well as various types of materials that can be used.

Watch the full SOLIDWORKS Live episode to take a deep dive into various 3D printing technologies available today, and learn how to optimize your designs for additive manufacturing. You can also take a virtual tour of Forerunner 3D.

We had a very engaged audience, with myriad of questions coming from YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. To get all of these questions answered, we invited Paul back for a special follow-up Q&A session. If your question wasn’t answered live during the live stream, you’ll find the answer in this video:

 
Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on our SOLIDWORKS Live website, or subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when we go live.

Olga Bai

Olga Bai is a Digital Marketing Manager at SOLIDWORKS in charge of the brand’s social media channels and other digital initiatives.