Materialise is providing its world leading Magics 3D Print Suite software to the MTC, home of the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing in Coventry, after becoming one of the MTC’s newest members.
The Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite is pioneering technology driving forward new solutions across a range of industries such as automotive, aerospace and manufacturing which complements a number of the markets the MTC work in. Founded in 1990, Materialise joins a growing number of MTC members involved in AM, and will bring its years of expertise in delivering AM solutions to the MTC.
Materialise has brought together the largest group of software developers in the industry and one of the largest 3D printing facilities in the world. Its end-to-end software and manufacturing services act as the backbone of the 3D printing industry, helping its customers unlock the full potential of 3D printing from design concept to production.
Additive Manufacturing will play a major role in digitising manufacturing (Fourth Industrial Revolution) as it enables new and better designs to be realised with enhanced productivity and greater sustainability. The MTC, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult which is supported by Innovate UK, has been at the forefront of developing new technologies and providing manufacturing systems solutions since opening in 2011.
Ross Trepleton, group technology manager for component technology at the MTC, said: “The MTC uses Materialise software to produce build files efficiently and accurately for right first-time AM component manufacture. The software suite enables high control of the 3D printing process from enhancing the design to streamlining production and analysing machine behaviour. This upskills our customer’s understanding of the entire AM process chain.”
With the move in the AM industry towards production, quality, repeatability and process control become increasingly important. Now, the MTC will have access to the Control Platform and Inspector software - tools that allow the user to analyse data coming from all stages of the production process in order to improve and guarantee part quality. Users can experiment with print styles and other research parameters, as well as predict and detect errors with less effort.
For validation of AM production set-up that can efficiently handle high volumes of data and ensure traceability, Materialise Streamics, provides a central AM automation and control system.
“We are pleased to share our knowledge and software solutions with a leading institution such as the MTC, and with the industrial Additive Manufacturing industry in the UK. Our Materialise Magics software suite allows leadership to take full control of the AM process,” states Philip Hudson, managing director at Materialise UK.
“Working with the MTC, together we can push industrial AM forward.”
Image: MTC additive manufacturing operations manager Chris Ryall and Materialise executive vice president Bart Van der Schueren discuss production.
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