Multi Jet Fusion enables the efficient production of end-use nylon parts using additive technologies. Here’s a checklist for design teams.

Introduction

What is Multi Jet Fusion?

Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) is an industrial form of 3D printing that can be used to produce functional nylon prototypes to higher volume production parts with exceptional design freedom and mechanical properties. The MJF process works by using inkjet nozzles to selectively distribute fusing and detailing agents across a bed layered with nylon powder. Unlike selective laser sintering, which uses lasers to fuse the powder into solid material, the MJF printer uses a continuous sweeping motion to distribute agents and apply heat across the print bed layer by layer until the part is finished, MJF can produce high-quality parts at high speeds.

This manufacturing process also does not require support structures to produce parts, making it possible to create complex geometries like internal channels or co-printed assemblies. MJF parts have mechanical properties comparable to injection-molded ones, but without the need for expensive tooling.

Designing for manufacturability will go a long way in ensuring optimal part quality and yield, minimizing post-processing needs, and driving cost reductions. Here’s a quick checklist to help your team ensure that you’re following MJF design best practices.

1. Is MJF a suitable process for my project?

Before diving into design changes, it is important to ensure that the MJF process will meet all product requirements. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Do any of the material offerings meet my product requirements?

While MJF has many strengths, it has a limited list of approved materials. PA12 and its glass bead counterpart are fairly versatile for rigid plastic applications. TPU, a flexible polyamide, can find use where an elastomeric material is required. If the available materials do not meet a specific requirement, you may need to consider a different process.

Does my part fit in the build volume?

One key limiting factor is the machine’s build volume, which is 380 x 380 x 284mm for the Jet Fusion 4200. In some cases, large parts can be printed as smaller subcomponents and assembled using adhesive or mechanical joints. In this case, design features such as dovetail joints may facilitate alignment and adhesion.

Do I have any tight tolerances I need to hit?

While the gap between additive and injection molding tolerances is narrowing, it is important to make sure that MJF’s tolerances are sufficient within the context of your assembly.

2. Are there areas where I can use less material?

In most cases, MJF defects are caused by thermal gradients that develop during the build. If the material cools unevenly, the piece may warp or develop sinks. Parts that are long and thin, have abrupt changes in cross-sections, or have thin curved surfaces are especially prone to shrink-induced warp.

Removing material from part designs wherever possible through the use of pockets, shelling, lattices, and topology optimization is key to mitigating and preventing these defects. Avoiding large changes in cross-sections is another way to limit warp. Ensure that chamfers and fillets are incorporated where needed throughout the part design to make the transitions between different features more gradual.

3. Are my features above the minimum threshold size?

In general, the wall thickness of MJF-printed parts should be a minimum of 1.5mm. Small design features should also be no smaller than 1.5mm, though some features such as slits, embossing, engraving, or the diameters of holes and shafts can be as small as 0.5mm. For embossed or debossed text, the font should be no smaller than 6pt (approximately 2mm) and should be a minimum of 0.3mm deep.

If a part includes screw threads, they should be M6 or larger. Where smaller, more precise, or more durable threads are needed, consider using threaded inserts. Beyond feature resolution, you should also consider how small, slender features might break off in post-processing.

4. Have I taken assembly tolerances into account?

Even with the greater geometric flexibility provided by the MJF process, some applications may still require a part to be assembled from multiple components. In general, mating faces should have 0.4 – 0.6mm of clearance to ensure that the components can properly fit.

If your project involves co-printing assemblies, the components printed together should have at least 0.5mm of clearance, but may require more, particularly when there are thick cross sections or there is a significant contact surface area.

5. Is my part design optimized for post-processing?

If your part requires post-processing, there are a few things to double-check in your design to help make secondary operations more effective.

1. Ensure that there are no unvented or trapped volumes in the design.
2. Avoid blind holes whenever possible — these are hard to clean, which can quickly drive up costs.
3. Add fillets to corners where the powder can cake and become difficult to remove through standard tumbling and bead blasting.

6. Have I seized every opportunity to lower part costs?

Besides improving part quality, intelligent DFM changes can drive cost savings. Lightweighting your part, for example, reduces the risk of defects and lowers the material cost per part. The other main consideration when designing for MJF and cost is optimizing nestability in a build. Adding draft or altering the position of printed assemblies may increase the number of parts that can fit per build and distribute fixed costs over more parts, lowering the overall part cost.

In addition to optimizing designs for manufacturability, additional factors to consider include your part’s cosmetics, surface finish, and ease of storage and transportation. MJF parts are naturally grey, but can be dyed black easily. If painting, priming, or other processes are not essential to the part’s function, they can be foregone to reduce expenses. Most MJF-printed parts will have a 125-250 microinches RA finish — if a smoother surface is needed, the part can undergo a variety of surface treatments, including sanding, tumbling, or vapor smoothing. Texturing can be an effective design technique to improve part aesthetics without additional post-processing.

Getting Started With a DFM Expert

Adhering to DFM principles is key to the success of manufacturing processes for a number of reasons. It helps to keep your operating expenses as low as possible, allows you to detect and address design issues early, and improves your overall part quality. This checklist is a valuable resource for making sure your MJF parts are optimized and refined before production begins.

The added advantage of partnering with SyBridge is that your team gains access to the latest in digital design technologies and expert advice. Our team is standing by to help guide each project from design and prototyping through to fulfillment, ensuring that you receive superior-quality parts on time and at the right price. Contact us today to get started.

The post HP Multi Jet Fusion Design Guidelines appeared first on SyBridge Technologies.

by Charlie Wood, Ph.D.
VP of Innovation, Research & Development

As a part of the SyBridge team, I’ve witnessed the remarkable evolution of design and engineering tools over the past decade. These digital advancements have revolutionized our approach to manufacturing, allowing for more data-driven processes and insights. But it can be difficult to know where to start, or even to understand where there are opportunities to implement.

At the heart of our approach lies the concept of the “Digital Thread,” a framework that interconnects data across the entire lifecycle. This concept enables us to leverage the wealth of design and operational data across our data lake that is generated in the manufacturing process, from CAD designs to inspection results. While the industry is still moving towards seamless integration, we’ve made significant strides in creating workflows that prioritize data-driven decision-making.

Streamlining Injection Mold Design Workflows

One key area where data is contributing to efficiencies within manufacturing is that of injection mold tooling design. By utilizing virtual component libraries for mold designs, we’ve been able to streamline the complex process of coordinating and collaborating on intricate assemblies for mold making. In these libraries, we have standard blocks, system approaches and components stored in a way that allows us to quickly identify and digitally pull components. This approach offers lots of flexibility when it comes to customer requests and needs, all while keeping standard practices built right into our tools. Over the course of many years, we’ve built software-driven processes to design new builds based off of these standard components, allowing us to quickly handle new requests from customers and build a learning feedback loop to avoid costly mistakes.

Additionally, through the use of parametric component libraries, we’ve been able to significantly reduce design complexity and incorporate our own manufacturing intelligence into these components, allowing us to directly check for design issues and integrate manufacturing information into CAD files. This process creates a flow of information from the conceptual stage of the design through manufacturing and approval, extending our Digital Thread from end to end. This information flow can also go backwards, tying quoting, estimation assumptions and specifications directly to tool designs. These advancements in our design approach have not only made the job of a tool designer a bit easier, but have improved quality by creating
more explicit feedback loops in our design processes.

Innovations in Conformal Cooling

As many know, 3D printing has unlocked incredible design freedom for manufacturing engineers around the world. However, what can be overlooked is how impactful it has been for system designers, like toolmakers, who can utilize that design freedom and low cost of complexity to create components that radically improve performance. In the case of toolmaking, 3D printing has unlocked new cooling channel designs simply not possible before.

Although increasing numbers of toolmakers are using these advanced manufacturing techniques today, the new design space is so complex it can be hard to probe. In the past, conformal cooling channels were fairly straight, in-plane paths driven by tool access limitations in machining. With metal 3D printing, the limits are far less restrictive and allow designers to pursue more creative and complicated structures.

Using advanced data-driven methods with virtual design and testing capabilities, we’ve been able to uncover non-obvious opportunity areas in the design space. Through these novel design and
manufacturing workflows, we’re optimizing cooling performance and achieving remarkable improvements in tool performance as measured through cycle time. Through our approach, we’re seeing cycle time reductions as high as 50%. These successes have inspired us to further integrate and enhance these workflows, driving continued innovation.

AI Tools for Manufacturing

The Fast Radius Portal’s AI-powered DFM checks

Looking ahead, we’re enthusiastic about the possibilities that emerging technologies like machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) offer. These novel data modeling approaches have shown incredible potential, and the pace of technological advancement is rapidly accelerating. We’ve been able to use ML models to build data models faster than through simple bottom-up logic, particularly for complex problems that contain many correlating factors.

The critical ingredient in implementing AI for manufacturing are large data sets that provide a source of truth for model training and validation. By leveraging our existing datasets, we aim to predict defects, optimize designs in real-time and ultimately revolutionize quality control processes. These technologies are not a distant vision; they’re an integral part of our current digital platform, with features like instant quoting and DFM checks based on captured manufacturing data. And this is just the beginning of what’s possible.

Unlocking Manufacturing Innovation via the Digital Thread

Our journey in harnessing digital workflows for injection molding design has seen remarkable progress and tangible results. The end-to-end integration of data into the Digital Thread, combined with the power of ML and AI, holds the key to unlocking even greater innovation. As we continue to push boundaries and explore new frontiers, we’re excited about the advancements at the interface between the physical and digital worlds.

Are you ready to harness the power of the Digital Thread for your organization? Contact us today to get started.

The post The Digital Thread: End-to-End Data-Driven Manufacturing appeared first on SyBridge Technologies.

Choosing the right tooling materials for manufacturing medical parts can be complicated, but with the right expertise and partner it can be a smooth process for long-term results.  

This is where having options makes a difference. Steel (hard) and aluminum (soft) tooling are both good options for creating the components used to manufacture medical parts. Selecting the option that will deliver the most value depends on your volume requirements, design complexity, and the lifespan of the mold. 

Aluminum Tooling: Fast Turnaround, Limited Cycles    

Specialized tool manufacturers can generally build aluminum tooling quickly, Aluminum tools are compatible with a variety of materials, cost less than steel, and have better heat conductivity. The ability to quickly gain or dissipate heat shortens production cycle times and offers a more consistent mold temperature, reducing the chances of warpage and increasing yields.    

Although aluminum boasts better heat conductivity and shorter production time than steel, its main drawback is that it can begin to wear down more quickly (typically after tens of thousands of production cycles) than steel. Worn tooling increases the chances for imperfections, a deal breaker for medical applications. Manufacturers may need to replace or repair aluminum tooling more often than steel tooling.    

Steel Tooling: High-Volume Production, Higher Upfront Costs  

Steel is a harder material than aluminum. This gives steel tooling many advantages: components can produce millions of parts over years without diminishing quality, the material allows for more complex designs, and the material is resistant to scratches and erosion. Steel tooling supports high-volume production runs for an extended period.  

However, steel tooling is also more expensive, and because steel is so hard, tooling may become difficult to repair or modify once produced. Steel doesn’t allow as much heat conductivity and so, molds take longer to heat and cool, increasing cycle times, potentially introducing warpage, shrinking, or sink marks. Additionally, high-featured designs or those that have unique requirements (e.g., thin, non-uniform walls) may require the use of steel molds to provide the required results. 

Choosing Your Tooling Material 

Both steel and aluminum tooling can be suitable options once the complete part design, budget and volume scenarios are fully considered. While the raw costs are distinctively different, the overall return on investment will depend on the lifespan of the tool and its usage.  

The decision comes down to the intended use of your tooling. Figure 1 shows a simplified version of the three factors to consider when determining which tooling material to use.  

Figure 1. Decision chart for steel vs. aluminum tooling 

Prototypes and Aluminum Tooling  

Prototypes are essential to developing new medical devices and other types of health technology. They allow engineers to test how their concept works in the real world, answering important questions, such as how well the part addresses the treatment’s core problem, how it fits with existing systems, and how easy it is to access and maintain. Without prototyping, these essential questions go unanswered, and the product is less likely to succeed during later stages.   

Consider using aluminum tooling for early prototypes if your volume needs are low – for example: less than 50,000 parts. Aluminum tooling will maintain its quality and reliability for the number of runs required to produce the prototype. Creating steel tooling for these low-volume runs may not provide the return on investment that aluminum will. Steel tooling is a more viable investment for high-production runs when volumes increase.   

Medical Industry Solutions From SyBridge  

Choosing the appropriate tooling for manufacturing your medical parts is crucial. The right tooling material will help guarantee the reliability of parts in high-volume production or the cost-effectiveness of parts in low-volume runs. Consider working with a tooling design and manufacturing expert to ensure consistent, reliable and high-quality outcomes. 

At SyBridge, our expert engineers can help you select the right tooling material to meet your needs. We bring decades of expertise in tool design and manufacturing of various types and levels and can guide you with the right choice for your application. 

Contact us  today to discover how SyBridge can produce the excellence you desire. 

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When designing a part, it’s important to understand critical differences between comparable materials. For instance, substituting a thermoplastic instead of a thermoset to create a product that’s meant to withstand high temperatures would have disastrous results. 

The terms “thermoplastic” and “thermoset” appear in many of the same conversations regarding plastic part manufacturing, but they’re not interchangeable. This article breaks down the major differences between thermoplastics and thermosets, as well as key advantages and best applications for each material.

Thermoplastics: What You Need to Know

Mechanical/Chemical Properties

A thermoplastic is any plastic material with a melting point that becomes molten when heated, solid when cooled, and can be re-melted or molded after cooling. The process is completely reversible, and doing so will not significantly compromise the material’s physical integrity. 

Thermoplastics are usually stored as pellets to facilitate easy melting during the injection molding process. Common examples of thermoplastics include acrylic, polyester, nylon, and PVC.

• Nylon: Nylon provides a unique combination of strength and wear resistance that makes this family of materials well-suited for a range of applications.
• TPE and TPU: When product designers and engineers want a part to have certain properties like shock absorption, flex rebound, or high impact strength, they often turn to polymers made out of thermoplastic elastomers. 
• ULTEM (PEI): ULTEM® is one of the only resins approved for use in aerospace settings. It is also among the most versatile plastics on the market. 

Advantages of Thermoplastics

Thermoplastics are strong, shrink-resistant, and relatively easy to use. Their inherent flexibility makes them an excellent choice for manufacturers who require shock-absorbent products that can withstand wear and tear while retaining their shape. 

Thermoplastics are generally more cost-effective than thermosets because they’re easier to process. This is because thermoplastics are made in higher volumes and don’t require post-processing. Plus, thermoplastic molds can be made from affordable materials like aluminum. Thermoplastics are highly compatible with injection molding processes, and are ideal for making repeatable parts in high volumes. 

Additionally, thermoplastics are some of the more environmentally friendly plastics on the market as they are highly recyclable by design. As an added benefit, manufacturing with thermoplastics produces fewer toxic fumes than working with thermosets. 

Common Thermoplastics Applications

Manufacturers often use thermoplastics for prototyping because if the final product doesn’t meet certain standards, they can easily melt the part down and start over without producing a lot of scrap material.

Beyond part prototyping, thermoplastics can be used to create a range of familiar consumer products, as well as medical devices, automotive components, and more.

Thermosets: What You Need to Know

Mechanical/Chemical Properties

In contrast to thermoplastics, a thermoset is any plastic material that hardens once cured by heat and cannot be reshaped after the curing process. During curing, valence bonds in the polymer cross-link together to form three-dimensional chemical bonds that cannot be undone, even under extreme heat. 

Thermosets are usually stored in liquid form in large containers. Common examples of thermosets include epoxy, silicone, and polyurethane.

• Epoxy (EPX 82): An additive material developed by Carbon for its DLS process. This material is ideal for automotive, industrial, and consumer applications. 
• Silicone (SIL 30): SIL 30 is an additive material developed by Carbon® for its digital light synthesis (DLS). Also known as SIL 30, this silicone urethane offers a unique combination of biocompatibility.
• RPU 70: Known for its toughness, strength, and ability to withstand heat, RPU can be used across multiple industries including consumer products, automotive, and industrial. 

Others like Phenolics are available as a granular product.

Advantages of Thermosets

Thermosets offer a wide range of benefits; overall, they are strong, stable, chemical-resistant, and have outstanding electrical properties. They won’t warp, degrade, or break down easily in extreme temperatures. 

Due to their strength and durability, thermosets are often used to reinforce another material’s structural properties. Among the most impact-resistant materials on the market, they are frequently used to seal products to protect them against deformation. 

Common Thermosets Applications

While thermoplastics offer a more diverse range of high and low functionality applications, thermosets can be used to create high-performance products in a wide variety of industries. 

Thermosets are ideal for building anything that comes into contact with extreme temperatures on a regular basis, such as kitchen appliances and electronics components.  

Start Building With Us

The crucial difference between thermoplastics and thermosets boils down to how they react to heat. Thermoplastics can be molded and remolded in the presence of heat without losing structural integrity, while thermosets can be molded only once. Of the two, thermoplastics are better suited for all-purpose products that need to be strong and flexible, while thermosets make better high-performance products. An experienced manufacturing partner can help you decide which material best fits your needs. 

When you partner with SyBridge, you partner with a dedicated team of engineers and manufacturing experts who will help you take your project to the next level. We’ll match your vision with optimal materials, manufacturing processes, and post-production services to ensure that you end up with a product of unmatched quality. Contact us today for a quote.

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To provide NFL and D1 players with enhanced protection with greater comfort, VICIS collaborated with the advanced manufacturing team at SyBridge, 3D printer/materials manufacturer Carbon and the digital customization experts at Toolkit3D to create player-specific 3D printed pads for ZERO2 MATRIX football helmets.

SNAPSHOT

Challenge

The team at VICIS was seeking a way to manufacture football helmet pads that offer greater comfort, safety and durability to provide players with improved protection against head injuries.

Solution

Drawing upon the expertise of the teams at SyBridge and Carbon, VICIS 3D printed these advanced new helmet pads with Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS) technology, utilizing lattice structures made from a new energy-damping, strain-rate-sensitive elastomer (EPU 45). To achieve a truly custom fit, VICIS turned to sports body equipment customization specialists Toolkit3D to perform 3D head scans of individual players. With SyBridge’s digital manufacturing capabilities and expertise in 3D printing, VICIS was able to create pads that conform to each player’s unique head shape, providing custom-fit comfort, enhanced protection and greater durability.

Outcome

Worn by some of the world’s best football players, VICIS helmets featuring these individually-customized 3D printed pads are now the top rated helmets for safety according to the NFL and NFLPA.*

*Data and rankings as of April 2023

“Just as in football, precision, speed and agility were key components when selecting a manufacturing partner for the 3D printed pads used in the Zero2 Matrix helmet. With SyBridge’s engineering expertise and advanced manufacturing technologies like Carbon® DLS™ and the Fast Radius Portal, we were able to incorporate feedback from the field to develop this helmet with player-specific customization in mind, bringing next-level design, protection and performance to the D1 and professional players of this sport we love.”

— Cord Santiago, Senior Design Engineer, VICIS

In the world of professional football, player safety is of utmost importance. With a growing concern about head injuries and the long-term effects they can have on athletes, leading helmet manufacturer VICIS set out to create an improved football helmet that would reduce impact force during head collisions.

To make this possible, the team at VICIS turned to SyBridge and Carbon in order to design and manufacture protective helmet pads, leveraging the digitization and customization expertise of Toolkit3D to achieve a custom fit for each player’s unique head shape.

The Challenge

REPLACING FOAM AROUND THE DOME

With traditional football helmets, including many of those used by professional and D1 athletes, foam is used as the primary material for padding and impact absorption. However, there are several key issues with foam pads that prevent them from being ideal for this application.

Foam pads:

• Offer little ability to fine-tune for specific impacts, limiting performance and safety
• Lack durability and require frequent reconditioning
• Cannot be customized without machining or other labor or material-intensive processes
• Trap heat and moisture

Recognizing the limitations of traditional foam pads, VICIS aimed to create helmet pads that not only remain structurally intact over time but also prioritize player comfort and offer unparalleled safety against head impacts. This required an innovative manufacturing approach, along with expertise in material science and engineering, leading VICIS to the advanced manufacturing experts at SyBridge and Carbon, and the sports body equipment customization specialists at Toolkit3D.

About EPU 45

EPU 45 is a new energy-damping elastomer developed by the material science engineers at Carbon. It prints four times faster than traditional elastomeric polyurethanes and is a strain-rate sensitive material that stiffens to absorb energy at higher impact rates, enabling the design of highly breathable lattice structures tuned for comfort at low-impact speeds and energy absorption at high-impact speeds.

Advantages of Lattice Structures

In addition to enhanced breathability, the lattice structures of the 3D printed helmet pads allow for optimal energy distribution upon impact. Combining this structural design with the unique properties of EPU 45 makes these advanced helmet pads a superior alternative to foam padding traditionally used in football helmets, as they offer greater durability with superior impact absorption.

The Solution

CRAFTING A NEW PLAYBOOK FOR IMPROVED CRANIAL PROTECTION

Working closely with the designers and materials scientists at Carbon and manufacturing engineers at SyBridge, VICIS determined that Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS) was the right technology to manufacture these advanced helmet pads due to material compatibility and a focus on customization. With a lattice-structure design consisting of the new EPU 45 material, the 3D printed helmet pads would offer an ideal combination of enhanced protection and greater durability.

To create a truly custom fit for each player, VICIS leaned on the expertise of Toolkit3D, specialists in digitizing and automating the customization of high-performance medical and sports body equipment, to create a digital model of each player’s unique head shape. Then, collaborating with the engineers at SyBridge and Carbon, VICIS was able to optimize each pad’s design for manufacturability and cost-effectively 3D print the custom elastomeric helmet padding.
For additional customization and traceability, each pad is printed with the player’s name, pad set, print date and serialization, ensuring that players use the correct pads for their specific cranial geometries.

In the event a replacement pad is needed, utilizing the design flexibility that 3D printing provides combined with the on-demand digital manufacturing capabilities of SyBridge’s Fast Radius Portal, players can receive new pads that match their original head scans in as fast as 2 days, ideal for reconditioning equipment during bye weeks.

The Outcome

LEADING THE LEAGUE IN HELMET SAFETY

The agility of digital manufacturing and the rapid production times that 3D printing offers have allowed VICIS to manufacture these new pads for their Zero2 Matrix helmets with mass customization in mind. When it comes to comfort, one size doesn’t fit all, and sacrificing safety for an improved fit should never be a consideration.

Worn by some of the world’s best football players, VICIS helmets featuring these individually-customized 3D printed pads are now the top rated helmets for safety according to the NFL and NFLPA.*

With these helmets, players get enhanced safety without the impediment of additional size or weight, and a truly customized fit for improved security and performance.

*Data and rankings as of April 2023

The NFL in collaboration with the NFLPA, through their respective appointed biomechanical experts, annually coordinate extensive laboratory research to evaluate which helmets best reduce head impact severity. The results of those tests, which are supported by on-field performance, are set forth on this poster.

The helmet models are listed in order of their performance, with a shorter bar representing better performance. The rankings are based exclusively on the ability of the helmet to reduce head impact severity measures in laboratory testing. Performance variation related to helmet fit, retention, temperature-dependence, and long-term durability are not addressed in these rankings.

All helmets in green are recommended for use by NFL players. Based on a statistical grouping analysis, helmets in the Top-Performing group have been further distinguished into two green categories. The darker green group represents those that performed similarly to this year’s top-ranked helmets, while the light green group performed similarly to the lowest ranked dark green helmet. Helmets with poorer laboratory performance were placed in the yellow or prohibited groups. Yellow and newly prohibited red helmets are not permitted for new players and players who did not wear them during the 2022 NFL season. Newly prohibited helmets will be prohibited for all players in 2024.

The laboratory test conditions were intended to represent potentially concussive head impacts in the NFL. The results of this study should not be extrapolated to collegiate, high school, or youth football.

The post Tackling Football Head Injuries With Manufacturing Innovation appeared first on SyBridge Technologies.

Manufacturing in Focus sat down with Senior Director of R&D, Dr. Charlie Wood and one of the company’s leading Additive Manufacturing and Engineering experts, Greg Nemecek, to learn how SyBridge Technologies is changing the industry with the latest advances in additive manufacturing.

See page 70

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Our software automatically checks your part files for issues that will make them difficult to manufacture. 

Additionally, the Fast Radius Portal also tracks parts from design to manufacturing to fulfillment, so you can see how different design elements contribute to a part’s success or failure. We feed that information back into the system to continually improve our models, resulting in automated design checks that get smarter every time you use them.

A Data-Driven Approach to Design

When you upload your design, it’s automatically checked for a variety of issues that can impact manufacturability, function and overall quality. These checks help you identify potential problems early and ensure clear communication about what you can expect from your manufactured parts. 

A red X indicator means there’s a critical manufacturability issue that you should address before manufacturing your parts. Though you can still proceed to manufacture parts with such issues, they may not turn out as you intended or could have defects.

An orange exclamation point indicator means that there are elements in your design that might cause issues. Our team sees these checks too, so they’ll let you know if they anticipate any major issues.

If you’re not sure how to fix an issue, you can submit your part for a manual quote so our team can take a look.

Take a look at the chart below for a brief overview of the DFM checks we perform and how any issues may impact your final parts.

* Included with Fast Radius Pro subscription

Get Design Feedback in an Instant

To get started, simply upload your design file and choose your manufacturing process and material.

Checks are listed on the right side of the screen. Each check expands to show a more detailed description of the issue. Clicking on a check will highlight that specific issue on your part visualization. If you need help understanding any of the checks, you can contact our team of experts right from within the Fast Radius Portal.

Once your part passes the necessary checks, you can place your order and checkout. Alternatively, you can also submit your design for a manual quote to start a conversation with our experts.

Upload Your Parts Today

Our automated DFM checks are just one of the powerful tools within the Fast Radius Portal. When you upload your part files, you also gain access to features such as advanced costing analysis, real-time order tracking, and a comparison tool that makes decision-making easy. Simply upload your CAD file to experience what modern manufacturing from SyBridge can help you achieve and discover how our industry-leading technologies can help you make new things possible.

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Reduced Risk of Part Warpage

During the molding process a part cools from the exterior surface to the inner core of the plastic, ideally at the same rate for all areas of the part when it is designed with consistent wall thickness. When injection molding simple, uniform parts conventional cooling typically doesn’t pose any challenges, as all areas of the part generally cool at a similar rate.

However, if a part design is geometrically complex, then the part may not cool at an even rate in all areas, resulting in potential warpage or longer cooling cycles to ensure solidified parts before ejection. The truth is that in today’s world with increasingly complex part geometries, perfectly uniform cooling rates are difficult to attain. In the case of low volume runs, the inefficiencies of having a slightly longer cooling cycles can be negligible and tolerable for molders. However, in the case of high volume runs, these efficiencies can be opportunities to improve productivity or reduce waste. The resulting efficiency of conformal cooling depends on many factors, from the design of the cooling channels, the design of the part, the mold design and even the molding recipe. When done properly, conformal cooling solutions can improve tooling output by 50% or more. 

Conventional Cooling

Conformal Cooling

Including conformal cooling channels in the mold tooling will help address hot spots that result in warpage, resulting in better quality parts with less material waste and fewer defects. 

Faster Cycle Times

In addition to achieving a better quality end result with a lower risk of defects, conformal cooling channels often significantly decrease mold cycle times. In the example below, conformal cooling was used to reduce the cycle time of this high-volume plastic component by almost 40%, increasing mold productivity by nearly 50%.

Is Conformal Cooling Right for Your Needs?

Including conformal cooling channels in injection mold tooling is popular across industries and product types, particularly in the life sciences, and consumer products sectors where parts with complex geometries or high mold volumes are common. If you plan to produce a large volume of parts via injection molding and are concerned about warpage, designing your injection mold tooling with conformal cooling may be the right solution to help with cycle times and lower part costs. In order to ensure that the channels are properly designed for your part’s geometry and specific application, it is imperative to work with an experienced tooling designer who is knowledgeable about how to integrate these novel approaches into high precision tooling.

At SyBridge, our engineers are experts in the injection molding and tooling design processes, and have worked with companies across diverse industries to help them achieve incredible results when it comes to improving mold productivity, reducing defects, and producing higher-performing parts. Whether you already have a mold design that you believe would benefit from the addition of conformal cooling channels or you’re working on the design for a new part or product, our team is here to help.

Contact us to speak with an injection mold tooling design expert and discover if conformal cooling is right for your injection mold tooling needs.

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Today, 3D printing technologies continue to improve and engineers are constantly discovering new applications where additive manufacturing is more practical than producing parts via traditional technologies. In fact, additive manufacturing has evolved well beyond technologies principally suitable for prototyping to include production-grade technologies like Carbon® Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS) and HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), which are capable of generating quality, functional end-use parts suitable for the most demanding applications. As the industry grows and gains further popularity, more companies will innovate and push the bounds of what additive manufacturing is capable of. With these advancements, new ideas will come to light and open up even more possibilities for industrial-grade 3D printing.

The Rise of Additive Manufacturing

In the early 2010s, 3D printing slid into the mainstream and has since truly taken off. Much of the recent growth can be attributed to the fact that automotive, consumer goods, aerospace, and medical device companies have opened their eyes to the many benefits of additive manufacturing. Not only can companies use additive technologies to quickly create prototypes, but they can also produce everything from aircraft maintenance tools to accurate surgical models and functional automotive parts.

With constantly improving material selections and advancements in print speed and accuracy, additive manufacturing has become a feasible production method for volume in the tens of thousands of parts. Companies are now able to cost-effectively produce custom products, such as helmets, hearing aids, prosthetics, and surgical guides on a mass scale. Manufacturers can make adjustments directly to a 3D CAD file and start production on a new part revision immediately, oftentimes weeks or months faster than it can take to manually adjust tooling for injection molding, the common alternative to 3D printing. Since there’s no need for expensive tooling, companies can keep production costs low, even as they change their design.

Bridge to Scalable Production

Regardless of the advantages of additive manufacturing, injection molding is still the gold standard for volume production of plastic parts, as it’s a tried and true scalable production method with a vast array of available materials. However, additive manufacturing has established its place alongside and in conjunction with injection molding as a bridge to production, allowing companies to receive their initial run of parts while the final injection mold tooling is being created. Through leveraging both the speed of additive manufacturing and the scalability of injection molding, companies are able to shorten product development timelines and gain a competitive advantage by getting to market quickly.

Along these lines, some companies have even started 3D printing injection mold tooling, as it’s a fraction of the cost of machined aluminum or steel tooling. Additionally, 3D printed tooling can be made quickly — it takes just two to three days to create tooling via additive manufacturing, while CNC machined steel tooling can take up to five months. Though 3D printed tooling is not nearly as durable as aluminum or steel tooling, it’s far more affordable for low-volume production runs if a desired material isn’t available to use with additive technologies.

But why do traditional injection molds take so long to manufacture? Machined molds will often have to go through additional post-processing steps using wire electrical-discharge machining (EDM) to achieve small details like sharp corners that are not achievable via CNC machining directly. However, these complex features can be printed directly with additive manufacturing, which can save time and money in the long run and makes 3D printing an ideal way to get a part into production quickly, even if steel or aluminum tooling is better-suited at scale.

With Supply Chain Woes, Additive Grows

Though additive manufacturing was already on the rise in the lead-up to 2020, it became increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the lockdowns and supply chain issues, companies could produce parts using conventional methods like injection molding and CNC machining in factories around the world before shipping them to warehouses and distribution centers. But suddenly, manufacturing techniques that had worked for decades weren’t quite cutting it in the midst of supply chain chaos. As a result, many companies turned to additive manufacturing to solve their supply chain woes.

Through distributed manufacturing networks, a rise in on-demand manufacturing services, and advancements in additive technologies and materials, more businesses turned to 3D printing instead of traditional technologies to produce small- and mid-sized production runs. And instead of shipping parts around the world, companies began to realize the ease and advantages of uploading CAD files to network-connected 3D printers that would then produce the parts closer to where they were needed. In addition to the increased design agility this afforded, along with reductions in logistics timelines and expenses, manufacturers were able to meet the booming demand for parts and products throughout the pandemic, including for essential products like medical equipment, face shields, and respirator components that were suffering extreme supply shortages.

The Future of Additive Manufacturing

As 2020, 2021, and 2022 have proven, 3D printing is a suitable manufacturing method for any industry looking for a rapid, adaptable production solution, no matter where they are in the world.

While supply chain issues have begun to ease, many companies have integrated 3D printing into their design and production processes, and are seeing it as the new normal when it comes to manufacturing geometrically-complex parts or even simpler parts at low to mid-size production volumes. And as a result of businesses’ continued reliance on additive manufacturing, new processes with greater speed, precision, and reliability coupled with robust and expansive material choices will continue to be developed in the coming years. These new additive manufacturing trends and developments will help 3D printing gain an even stronger foothold in the manufacturing world.

Adoption of Additive Manufacturing in Electric Vehicle Production

One area specifically where 3D printing will likely continue to carve out its niche is in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Over the past few years, EVs have hit the mainstream, and they’re only continuing to grow in popularity. General Motors will phase out gas-powered cars by 2035 and President Biden plans to replace the federal fleet with EVs, so it’s clear that electric vehicles are here to stay. As manufacturers try to make EVs increasingly affordable and high-performing, they’ll look for cheaper, lighter, and more easily sourced parts, which will pave the way for more widespread adoption of additive manufacturing processes across the mobility industry. As quicker, more efficient product development cycles push the limits of traditional manufacturing technologies, this will create a whitespace for additive manufacturing due to the speed and design flexibility it affords.

Decentralized 3D Printing of Customizable Parts at Scale

While mass customization is already amongst the most popular additive manufacturing trends, it will likely truly take off in the coming years as more businesses figure out how to integrate additive manufacturing into their digital workflows. As companies seek to reduce production and supply chain waste, 3D printing will arise as a natural fit for many industries due to its inherent efficiency. Likewise, additive manufacturing will continue to expand its role in the supply chain. Eventually, 3D printing may help drive a shift toward digital manufacturing and encourage the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, resulting in a more decentralized, resilient, and eco-friendly supply chain.

Advancements in 3D Printer Technologies

Over the next few years, 3D printers themselves will continue to evolve, becoming larger, faster, more capable, and more affordable. These newer machines will be able to handle more technical capabilities, enabling advancements such as co-printing materials and colors and even embedding electronic components directly into parts. Despite the relatively high cost of 3D printers, their growing utility across a wide range of applications — including making parts that are impossible to produce using traditional technologies — will make additive manufacturing more popular among large manufacturers. As adoption increases, in order to meet commercial demand, so too will printing speeds, ultimately reducing production times even further and lowering per-part costs.

Advancements in 3D Printing Materials

Regarding additive materials, manufacturers can expect more sustainable options to hit the market in 2023 and beyond. After all, sustainability has become a significant focus for many companies. Not only are regulations surrounding sustainability becoming more strict, but using sustainable practices and materials can also help companies build customer loyalty, protect brand reputation, and even attract new customers, making it easier to gain a competitive advantage. As a result, more and more companies are dedicating their time and money to developing new recyclable, reusable, and/or biodegradable 3D printing materials.

In addition to more sustainable materials, additive materials that allow end-use parts to surpass the strength and durability of traditionally-manufactured parts are continuing to be developed. Even at present, production grade additive manufacturing equipment is already capable of creating nearly perfectly isotropic parts, having the same mechanical properties in all directions that rival injection molded and machined parts. With further advancements in additive materials, companies will be able to innovate at a faster pace and create products that push the limits of performance — and do so in record time.

Preparing For The Future Of 3D Printing With SyBridge Technologies

3D printing has already significantly advanced since it hit the market in the 1980s, and progress isn’t slowing down anytime soon. In the coming years, additive manufacturing will only become increasingly accessible, reliable, and precise, opening the door for even more companies to use the technology to produce everything from custom shoes to automotive mounting brackets. But to truly take advantage of additive manufacturing and all that it can do, working with a seasoned manufacturing partner is vital to stay ahead of the competition.

At SyBridge Technologies, we have extensive experience with 3D printing, are up-to-date on the latest additive manufacturing trends, and have top-of-the-line printers, including production-grade technologies like HP Multi Jet Fusion and Carbon® Digital Light Synthesis™. In addition to being a leader in additive manufacturing, we offer end-to-end solutions for the entire product development process — from design to post-production support — across multiple technologies, including injection molding, urethane casting, and CNC machining. When you partner with us, we’ll help you leverage the right technology for your application to create quality parts with the exact specs you require on the timeline you need. Whether you’re prototyping a new design or are ready to scale production, we have the engineering knowledge, capabilities, and dedication to bring your vision to life.

Want to learn more about our capabilities in additive manufacturing? Contact us today to speak with an expert.

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Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cavaform expands SyBridge’s presence in the high precision life sciences end-market.  Cavaform’s wholly owned subsidiary, MTM&D, is a leader in supportive molding for a wide range of life science and consumer applications.

For over 40 years, Cavaform has been known for its innovative solutions in close tolerance tooling.  Cavaform’s customers range across many end markets but is renowned for its solutions in the medical disposables, personal care and intravenous (IV) catheter tipping tool industries.  In 2008, Cavaform started MTM&D as a testing and qualifications business, which quickly expanded into full “art to part” molding offerings.

New York-based private equity firm Crestview Partners established SyBridge Technologies in 2019 to create and build a market leading value-added manufacturing solutions provider spanning end-markets, geographies, and advanced technological capabilities.

Byron J. Paul, CEO of SyBridge Technologies, said of the transaction, “Cavaform is another important step in our transformation to be the partner of choice for advanced technology-driven design and manufacturing solutions. Cavaform and MTM&D adds to our capabilities in high precision tooling for the life-sciences segment and extends our ability to fulfill needs across the product lifecycle. “

Dave Massie, Owner and President of Cavaform, commented “We are pleased to join and be a part of SyBridge Technologies’ growing family of exciting companies. The combination of Cavaform’s experience and SyBridge’s breadth of design, prototyping, tooling and software capabilities creates an exciting platform for growth.”

Bill McDonough, President of SyBridge’s Consumer & Life Sciences Business Unit, added, “Dave Massie has done an outstanding job in building and maintaining a high-quality, close precision tooling and molding company. We are excited to welcome the new members to our team and look forward to working together to support our customers’ continued growth.”

About SyBridge Technologies 

SyBridge Technologies was established in 2019 by Crestview Partners to create a global technology leader that provides value-added design and manufacturing solutions across multiple industries. SyBridge is the combination of 14 acquisitions of industry leaders made to combine different products, services and technologies into a singular technology enabled solution. SyBridge is based in Southfield, Michigan and has operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Ireland. For more information, please visit www.sybridge.com.

About Crestview Partners

Founded in 2004, Crestview is a private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with approximately $10 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners who have complementary experience and backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: industrials, media, and financial services. For more information, please visit us at www.crestview.com.

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