NASA Develops Multi-Alloy 3D Printing Process – RT.com

August 3rd, 2014. image Researchers at NASA’s Pasadena based Jet Propulsion Lab are actively working with a process that 3D prints an object composed of more than one metal alloy. The team has been working on the project since 2010, after being inspired by wanting to improve on methods of combining parts made from different materials. The team has developed a method of changing the metal powder at will, and using a customized laser sintering process that adds layers tangentially on a rotating shaft. The article noted gradient alloy objects have been developed in the past, but not with definitive separate parts in a single mass. Some possible uses were proposed such as an object with different melting temperatures, densities and even magnetic properties.

Edit:

A far more detailed review was found at Design Engineering.com, discussing the linear process that has been developed, some drawbacks with brittleness and their workarounds. Additionally, Design Engineering pointed to the full scientific report on the radial deposit process.

The Diverging State of PDM – Lifecycle Insights

By Chad Jackson on Friday, March 28th, 2014. image I enjoyed reading Chad Jackson’s take on the changes that are taking place in the data management space especially after we did our look to 2015. Chad noted how the Product Data Management (PDM) across the industry began to more towards the cloud in a similar path, but sometimes different methodologies. The thing that was significant to all is that everyone was moving together in a common direction. However since 2013 things have begun to fragment, and Chad discusses specific examples of how this is starting to occur, and what the strategies are behind these diverging methodologies. I liked Chad’s statement here:

“This stands as the antithesis of Autodesk’s and Dassault Systèmes approach, which is the automate the manage and tracking of changes as much as possible. GrabCAD’s approach is to give the market what they want. The approach for Autodesk’s and Dassault Systèmes is to be more visionary. [SIC]”

Siemens CAE & Test Symposium 2014 – Siemens

“Smarter Decisions, Better Products” image Siemens has announced their CAE & Test Symposium that is planned for October 22-23, 2014 on a boat of all things – Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. This is the former NX CAE Symposium. Siemens has rebranded the symposium to reflect their expanded capabilities especially after the purchase of LMS International NV in 2012. This should represent the entire lineup of testing and simulation software under their roof. LMS, by the way, was a strategic acquisition and gave Siemens some well-regarded capabilities. Here is a quote from the Siemens 2012 press release: “Siemens will become the first product lifecycle management (PLM) software company to provide a closed-loop systems-driven product development solution extending all the way to integrated test management.” I’d really like to attend this symposium to see how they intent on moving forward with all the luggage they are now carrying.

The One True Part Number System – GrabCAD

By Ed Lopategui on August 5th, 2014. imageEd did a great job on this somewhat humorous write-up, looking at the differences between people’s (often heated) arguments over structured vs. non-structured part numbers. There is significant truth in both arguments, but Ed called for a balance and flexibility that allowed for things to work together. Some items he suggested are:

  • A temporary pool of simple numbers in early-stage design
  • Easy re-identification
  • Gaps in numbering to permit grouping
  • Numbers evolve as the design matures
  • Include only the minimum information, and decide how much that will be.

What is interesting is that these might be considered what GrabCAD has in the works for their Workbench service, which is rapidly evolving as we speak, and has a lot of eyes on it (including my own).