Dyndrite and Novanta collaborate on software for laser-based metal Additive Manufacturing
November 18, 2022
Dyndrite, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA, has announced a collaboration with Novanta Corporation, headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, USA, in support of the company’s Firefly 3D and Lightning™ II laser beam steering solutions. The companies will collaborate on a proof-of-concept that will allow Dyndrite software to directly generate low-level scanning trajectories for Novanta hardware. This provides users of Dyndrite Additive CAM software the ability to generate very fine-resolution scanner trajectories, making full use of the advanced functions and underlying power of the laser scanner hardware.
Novanta’s high-precision scanning solutions, used in a wide variety of Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing machines, are often not fully utilised by standard trajectory strategies. Novanta scanning solutions are capable of being operated at much higher levels of performance with a wider range of scan strategies than are often made available to the current open market.
Engineered as an enclosed, compact solution to enable multi-headed machine architectures with up to 100% overlap, Firefly 3D is reported to be the ideal solution for today’s serial production high-throughput Additive Manufacturing machines. Incorporated within the design are features to simplify installation and operation including features such as precise monitoring of the AM process and synchronised process and motion data.
“High-performance scanners such as Novanta’s Firefly 3D and Lightning™ II are designed with smart technology to predict their own capabilities and limits,” stated Simon Matthias, Technical Business Development Manager, Novanta. “This informs the controlling hardware how best they can be driven to allow full use of the scanners’ complete bandwidth. We’ve seen what is possible from a materials and process standpoint with Dyndrite and knew working with them would unlock the full potential of our scanners.”
Dyndrite explains that parameter and scanning pattern development is a significant undertaking when qualifying new materials and machines. For this reason, often there is a conservatism that leads users and developers of machines, and the software that drives them, to stay within traditional approaches, relying on standardised scanning patterns such as a checkerboard or similar hatch-based approaches. The result is often a reduction in efficiency and the missed potential of realising improvements in material microstructures.
The company aims to disrupt this traditional model of parameter development by providing innovative software power, freedom and control over the scanner. These controls and algorithms can leverage the power of the underlying hardware to deliver more efficient, less costly machine design and better process interactions which can lead to better material properties and accelerated build rate.
Harshil Goel, CEO, Dyndrite, added, “Dyndrite was formed as we saw that the manufacturing hardware had outpaced the software. Our work with Novanta is one step closer to reversing this industry-stifling trend. We look forward to working with the Novanta team and showcasing the combined power of our solutions.”
