Markforged Simulation software takes the guesswork and waste out of carbon fiber 3D printing.
3D printing with carbon fiber has been a guessing game … until now. So says Markforged, the leader in carbon fiber 3D printers. You start by sending a designed part to a 3D printer. But then you have to test the part to see if it is strong enough. If it fails, you make the part bigger where it failed. Print. Test. Repeat.
Markforged introduces Simulation, an analysis program designed especially for users of Markforged 3D printers. The innovative carbon fiber 3D printer company, also now in the metal 3D printing world, is letting customers use the cloud-based Simulation for free for a limited time.
Simulation is part of Markforged’s Eiger slice and print workflow. It is the rebranded version of SmartSlice, a 3D printing structural analysis program developed by Teton Simulation, which Markforged acquired in July 2022. Simulation validates structural performance (strength and stiffness) by specifying loads and restraints plus factor of safety and the maximum deflection allowed. The program will optimize the 3D print build and determine the print settings for floors, walls and infill, as well as the proper carbon fiber reinforcement.
“Simulation enables our customers to adopt The Digital Forge [Markforged’s software, material and printer system] deeper into their manufacturing operations by replacing more mission critical tooling and end-use metal parts with validated and optimized 3D printed advanced composite parts with continuous fiber reinforcement,” said Shai Terem, president and CEO of Markforged. “Cloud-based software innovation like Simulation is core to our mission to bring industrial part production to the point of need.”
Markforged offers Larsen Motorsports as an example of Simulation’s success. Founded by a husband-and-wife team of Chris and Elaine Larsen, the company builds and races jet engine-powered dragsters. They bought a Markforged printer and are using it to make a custom steering wheel for Josette Roach, one of their drivers.
If your image of a drag racing car driver is derived from pictures of Big Daddy Don Garlits, considered the father of drag racing, you might be quite surprised to see the 22-year-old, green-eyed blonde Roach, whose hands are too small for getting a good grip on the standard butterfly steering wheel, according to the Markforged press release.
About Larsen Motorsports
Elaine Larsen, cofounder of Larsen Motorsports, has “two decades of drag racing experience,” while her husband and cofounder, Chris Larsen, has experience in aviation. Their company builds jet engine dragsters.
Elaine Larsen created an all-female driving team for her racecars in 2014, though the team would allow male drivers in later years.
The objective of creating a right-sized but still strong steering wheel was given to Brian Tocci, director of Operations at Larsen Motorsports.
“We can now test it with Simulation, iterate and keep iterating until we get a design we’re happy with,” said Tocci. “We don’t have to print 10 different parts. We can do it all in Simulation.”
About Markforged
Markforged, a 3D printing company based in Watertown, Mass. (in the Boston area), burst onto the scene at SolidWorks World 2014 and stole the show. Greg Mark, an MIT graduate, founded Markforg3D, as it was then called, in his name. Mark dazzled attendees by trying to bend a thin 3D-printed part that just would not bend. It was the first time anyone had been able to 3D print a part with embedded continuous fibers. And best of all, the printers were going to be sold for $5,000.
Markforged went on to add metal 3D printers to its product line. Mark took the company through an IPO and has since left the company, which now claims 10,000 customers in over 70 countries.