Development and trends of software for 3D printing
In the following review, explore the business opportunities and trends to follow in the development of 3D printing software tools that cover the entire 3D printing process, from design to workflow. By defining the critical functionalities of 3D printing software in various contexts, this study segments the 3D printing software market into three distinct parts. The software to use when tackling a 3D Printing job is extremely important since not all 3D design software does the same or is equally adapted to 3D printing. Many things will depend on this choice: our workflow, the required precision of the part itself, and even the choice of the printer that will make the object. Therefore, the choice of software to use is not a trivial decision, but 50% of the success or failure of our project.
3D printing software integrated by the manufacturer with machine-specific print preparation tools.
During 2016, Stratasys announced a new 3D printing software product called GrabCAD Print (still in Beta), designed to provide a single integrated tool and interface for managing the post-CAD printing process. GrabCAD allows the import of CAD files directly from several popular CAD programs such as Solidworks or AutoCAD. Therefore, the software appears to encompass elements of build preparation, build processing, and production management within the context of some Stratasys FDM printers. Meanwhile, metal additive manufacturing system providers have also begun to develop and market more advanced hybrid process preparation software tools specific to the challenges and needs of metal AM users. QuantAM is pure model preparation software, optimized for precise (and therefore efficient) integration with your own hardware and offers an alternative to metal AM systems that rely on third-party software like netfabb or Magics . And 3D Systems announced in September 2016 its latest metal AM software offering designed for use with its direct metal printing line of powder metal bed fusion systems.
2-Leading companies in the field of computer aided design creating applications for direct printing as a competitive advantage in the sector
The major players in traditional 3D CAD software have also been quick to create features that enable a direct print option, seeking to emulate the simplicity of word processor-like printing, which is direct from drawing to printer without the need for of intermediate tools to prepare files OR optimize them for printing. Additive manufacturing has been clearly identified as a next-generation growth market for CAD tools and 3D design software for the past five years in particular, and today major players like Autodesk and Dassault Systemes are dedicating more feature releases. aimed directly at 3d printing users .
In February 2016, Dassault Systemes highlighted planned integrations for its flagship SolidWorks CAD software for engineering-oriented 3D printing. The company is pursuing similar goals to mainstream hardware OEMs in that they hope to eventually reduce or eliminate the often cumbersome software chains involved in moving from digital to physical design. For now, the company is focusing on working to integrate direct CAD printing for low-cost and desktop printers, having specifically partnered with South Korean manufacturer Sindoh. New features for users of Sindoh printers using SolidWorks will emulate the print preparation and build processing stages within SolidWorks. Meanwhile, Autodesk is continuing a similar strategy with the latest in AutoCAD 2017. The latest generation of the venerable AutoCAD and 3ds Max include Print Studio, a companion piece that had previously been built on the AutoDesk Spark platform for use with its own 3D printer from desk. Now, apart from AutoCAD, Print Studio integrates its own geometry preparation and processing functionalities, borrowing some features from other Autodesk products (such as MeshMixer ) to allow printing directly from CAD software.
3- Developers for other programs that arise in the field of Metal AM 3D printing software.
The market for 3D printing software is expected to grow even faster than that for machine-specific 3D printing software developed by printer OEMs, driven primarily by the need for software that can handle a wide range of potential applications and printing processes to support them . Materialize has released updates over the last six months to two of its flagship products: Mimics Innovation Suite and Magics. The Mimics Innovation Suite application for medical 3D printing applications is now in its 19th version, with its latest set of tools focused on improving the overall efficiency of various time-consuming processes associated with importing medical imaging data, making it a the revisions necessary for the creation of a printable medical device or implant are much more comfortable .
