AM & Design: New Possibilities Unlocked with 3D Printing

How is 3D printing changing approaches to design and product lifecycle?

In this video, we’ll examine how the capabilities of additive manufacturing extend beyond design and change potentially the entire way we think about designing, making and bringing to market products in a broad range of industries, including consumer goods, aerospace, and automotive.

Conventionally, we tend to think of a cost-effective design as one that uses basic shapes, maybe even one that’s literally fabricated from basic stock shapes such as sheet and tube. In subtractively manufactured parts, which are parts machined or formed via a machined mold or tool, design features are decided by compromise. But what if we didn’t need to make these compromises?

Check out the video to see additive manufacturing experts from across the industry weigh in on these opportunities. If the design freedom and other advantages of additive manufacturing technology create opportunities for higher quality and lower cost elsewhere in the product lifecycle, additive manufacturing machines just might become a vital piece of equipment on every factory floor.

Written by

James Anderton

Jim Anderton is the Director of Content for ENGINEERING.com. Mr. Anderton was formerly editor of Canadian Metalworking Magazine and has contributed to a wide range of print and on-line publications, including Design Engineering, Canadian Plastics, Service Station and Garage Management, Autovision, and the National Post. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and part design for a Tier One automotive supplier.