CoreTechnologie 4D_Additive update to easily repair STL and scan data

April 26, 2022

CoreTechnologie has added ‘Marching Cube’ and ‘Mesh Simplification’ to its Additive Manufacturing software 4D_Additive (Courtesy CoreTechnologie)
CoreTechnologie has added ‘Marching Cube’ and ‘Mesh Simplification’ to its Additive Manufacturing software 4D_Additive (Courtesy CoreTechnologie)

CoreTechnologie, headquartered in Mömbris, Germany, has added ‘Marching Cube’ and ‘Mesh Simplification’ to its Additive Manufacturing software 4D_Additive. This new tool gives users the ability to simplify tessellated files and turn them into closed solids quickly, allowing any type of triangulated 3D model to be corrected and prepared for Additive Manufacturing.

Modern Additive Manufacturing is based on accurate CAD data, but, more and more often, this data is generated with a 3D scanner. The quality of STL data is often poor and not suitable for Additive Manufacturing or other subsequent processes. To ensure error-free slicing and building, it is necessary to repair errors on STL models and send closed solid models to the Additive Manufacturing machines. In addition, scanned parts often have file sizes of several gigabytes due to the high number of very small triangles – especially if several scanned files are to be additively manufactured in the same build job, the size of the data that must be sent to the machine can become a real problem.

The 4D_Additive 1.4 update now has functions to close the tessellated models into ‘watertight’ solids and intelligently mesh reduction functions in order to reduce the number of triangles without losing accuracy. Marching Cube and Mesh Simplification allow any type of triangulated, mostly STL data, to be automatically corrected and simplified at the touch of a button.

With the Marching Cube function, faulty STL models and scan data can be repaired and transformed into closed solids. The Marching Cube function combines a ‘voxelisation’ of the parts with their repair, whereby the size of the voxel (i.e., cube) and, thus, the fineness can be defined by the user. After the adaptive filling of the part volume with voxels – the so-called ‘voxilisation’ – a closed 3D mesh is generated. The 4D_Additive software thus repairs models with hundreds and thousands of triangulation defects automatically within seconds.

In addition, the user has access to various options for the intelligent reduction of triangles. By defining a maximum angle between the triangles – the maximum chord deviation – by percentage reduction or by defining the desired number of triangles the file size and complexity of triangulated models can be reduced easily.

The use of the two new functions makes it possible to repair various types of scanned parts without manual effort, thus creating additively manufactured solids with a reasonable file size and resolution from scans and faulty STL models in a very short time. In the future, this technology is hoped to enable a significant simplification of the scanning and Additive Manufacturing process.

www.coretechnologie.com

About Metal Additive Manufacturing magazine

Metal AM magazine, published quarterly in digital and print formats, is read by a rapidly expanding international audience.

Our audience includes component manufacturers, end-users, materials and equipment suppliers, analysts, researchers and more.

In addition to providing extensive industry news coverage, Metal AM magazine is known for exclusive, in-depth articles and technical reports.

Our focus is the entire metal AM process from design to application.

Each issue is available as an easy-to-navigate digital edition and a high-quality print publication.

In the latest issue of Metal AM magazine

Download PDF
 

Extensive AM industry news coverage, as well as the following exclusive deep-dive articles:

  • Fly-by-wire: How Additive Manufacturing took to the skies with Norsk Titanium
  • Dynamic beam shaping: Unlocking productivity for cost-effective Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion
  • Enabling the fusion energy revolution: Mastering tungsten with PBF-EB Additive Manufacturing
  • Patents and Additive Manufacturing: What insights can mining PBF-EB data reveal about the industry and the technology?
  • Additive Manufacturing for Semiconductor Capital Equipment: Unlocking critical supply chains
  • Can Additive Manufacturing lower the carbon footprint of parts for the energy and maritime industries?
  • Inspect Additive Manufacturing, stop monitoring: Phase3D’s unit-based, in-process inspection solution for powder bed AM

The world of metal AM to your inbox

Don't miss any new issue of Metal AM magazine, and get the latest industry news. Sign up to our twice weekly newsletter.

Sign up

Looking for AM machines, metal powders or part manufacturing services?

Discover suppliers of these and more in our comprehensive advertisers’ index and buyer’s guide, available in the back of Metal AM magazine.

  • AM machines
  • Process monitoring & calibration
  • Heat treatment & sintering
  • HIP systems & services
  • Pre- & post-processing technology
  • Powders, powder production and analysis
  • Part manufacturers
  • Consulting, training & market data
View online

Discover our magazine archive…

The free to access Metal Additive Manufacturing magazine archive offers unparalleled insight into the world of metal Additive Manufacturing from a commercial and technological perspective through:

  • Reports on visits to leading metal AM part manufacturers and industry suppliers
  • Articles on technology and application trends
  • Information on materials developments
  • Reviews of key technical presentations from the international conference circuit
  • International industry news

All past issues are available to download as free PDFs or view in your browser.

Browse the archive

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap