SIMULATION & ANALYSIS |
OPTIMISATION
GOING WITH THE FLOW
Multi-property optimisation software has arrived in the shape of Form ow,
which is anticipated to deliver 50%+ cost savings, exceed sustainability goals,
and meet the demands of innovators and manufacturers.
Additive Flow, a leading
developer of advanced
optimisation software, has
successfully delivered
its beta program with leading
organisations such as Manufacturing
Technology Centre, and has
launched the anticipated rst
release of its ‘Form ow’ optimisation
software with key patterns and
customers.
With materials and manufacturing
advancements enabling the
production of multi-functional parts
coupled to varying properties based
on local engineering requirements,
Form ow is able to manage these
properties throughout the digital
work ow.
Additive Flow pairs multi-physics
with multi-objective algorithms
and material science to deliver
manufacturable solutions. Form ow
software balances performance
and cost saving – with achieving
and maintaining required material
properties in their proper place.
Additive Flow’s software has a
number of standout features:
1 Accessible interface for powerful
multi objective optimisation,
empowering users to switch
optimisation goals and constraints
2 Algorithms that allocate multiple
material properties (via lattices,
build-parameters, and materials)
simultaneously with topology
3. Multi-physics capability tightly
coupled with as-printed material
properties
As Andrew Triantaphyllou,
Technology Manager, Design for
Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) at
the MTC puts it: “The multi-material
property optimisation gives us new
potential capability to explore for
applications meeting competing
objectives. The software has more
metrics than we are used to seeing,
and has the ability to combine them
in an accessible way. It can lower
the barrier to working with multiobjective
optimisations, opening
industry to new arenas.”
Trade-offs between different
objectives have long been a
challenge of engineers and
commercial decision makers –
how to meet competing objectives
and constraints within teams and
business units? Impossible tradeoffs
between sustainability and
costs, or product performance and
manufacturing lead times – often
create headaches and challenges
in organisations large and small,
as engineers have to address
competing goals.
This leads to many iterations,
revisions, and redesigns based
on the different choices of inputs
(safety factors, materials, geometry
constraints) and their implications on
shapes, procurement, and pro tability
- which bounce back and forth
between teams – increasing costs,
while limiting innovation. Amid this
complexity, considerations such as
environmental impact can be missed.
Alexander Pluke, CEO of Additive
Flow says, “The engineers and
businesses we’ve spoken with want to
do better when it comes to harnessing
innovation and sustainability, but
are too often caught between their
time limits, cost considerations and
performance needs. Engineers have
been calling out for a tool that can
help them address these challenges,
and we have had great feedback from
our users on the new frontiers now
available to them with Form ow’s
capability”.
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