Materialise announces collaboration with BLT and software updates at Formnext

Materialise, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has announced enhancements to its Magics software which allows users to create custom workflows, protect the intellectual property behind component designs and additively manufacture high-performance geometries. The company also announced partnership expansions, including a newly inked agreement with Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies Co., Ltd (BLT), based in Xi’an, China.

“3D printing is evolving from a focus on technology innovation to becoming an essential tool in industrial applications,” said Udo Eberlein, Vice President of Materialise Software. “The next phase is about empowering users to adapt this technology to their specific manufacturing needs. With our latest updates, we’re providing the tools and flexibility to help them meet these unique requirements. This ‘Power to the People’ approach underscores our commitment to enabling manufacturers to achieve precise, impactful results in their production workflows.”

Materialise and BLT sign agreement

At Formnext, Materialise entered into a long-term agreement with BLT. This partnership will integrate Materialise’s software solutions with BLT’s advanced metal Additive Manufacturing machines, offering customers a comprehensive solution designed to enhance production efficiency, reduce costs, and accelerate product innovation.

There are also plans for the partnership to expand into the joint research of new Additive Manufacturing technologies, development of industry-specific solutions, and promotion of AM across key sectors, including personalised healthcare, aerospace, and automotive design.

Open SDK for workflow flexibility

Additive Manufacturing is being integrated into production lines for mass customisation, series, and end-use production across industries including MedTech, aerospace, and consumer goods, explains Materialise. Traditional manufacturers strive to maximise profitability by optimising every stage of the production process, and they want to do the same for AM within their manufacturing workflow.

To support these optimisation efforts, Materialise has opened the Software Development Kit (SDK) for Magics in order to make it easier for manufacturers to increase efficiency of their Additive Manufacturing processes. Users can now create custom workflows using Python and C++ scripts, allowing those who optimise for quality, build time, etc., to meet their specific manufacturing requirements.

“We’ve seen tremendous potential for businesses to optimise their workflows with the Magics SDK, enabling enhanced manufacturing processes and substantial improvements in ROI,” said Egwin Bovyn, Product Line Manager, Magics 3D Print Suite. “At Materialise, we’ve customised our SDK to optimise data and build preparation in our own manufacturing operations. By sharing our algorithms via Python code, we enable the automation of data and build preparation at scale. These advanced automation tools empower manufacturing service providers by ensuring our technology meets their individual needs.”

Organisations looking to integrate Additive Manufacturing into existing manufacturing operations often lack the resources to define their own business requirements and develop workflows. To support these efforts, Materialise works with businesses to identify opportunities for customisation and improvement and guide them through their transition to production.

Orientation comparison tool

Materialise is also introducing its Orientation Comparison capability within e-Stage for Metal+, allowing users of Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing to reduce support structures, manage heat distribution, improve surface quality, minimise build time and cost, ensure dimensional accuracy and facilitate powder removal.

In addition to existing support optimisation for a given orientation, the new feature will compare any set of given orientations and report on cost- and quality-related parameters such as build height, max XY cross section and mean and max deviation of the different simulation results.

The update is intended to allow less experienced users to quickly evaluate and compare different options to understand what yields an optimal orientation. It is also good to help more experienced users screen their options and optimise based on cost and quality.

nTop partnership expansions

Earlier this year, Materialise announced a partnership with nTop to integrate nTop Core into Magics, enabling users to design high-performance geometries that can be processed by the Materialise Next-Gen Build Processor. The companies launched an Early Access Program in June, with an initial cohort of ten companies, including leaders from aerospace, automotive, Formula 1, Medtech, and research institutions.

Materialise has now extended this capability to several Additive Manufacturing OEMs, including Additive Industries, Renishaw, and Stratasys, which will collaborate with Materialise to invest in the development of Next-Gen Build Processors. Materialise’s Next-Gen Build Processor is configurable software that translates large and complex 3D design files into additively manufacturable instructions.

Additionally, Materialise and nTop have worked together to ensure that all new Next-Gen Build Processors will have the option to include the nTop implicit modelling kernel out of the box. This will enable users to transfer highly complex, high-performance geometries directly to Magics without time-consuming translations in build preparation and production.

“nTop’s leading modelling technology enables our customers to design some of the most advanced and complex products on the planet,” said Bradley Rothenberg, CEO and founder, nTop. “In partnering with Materialise to now be able to 3D print directly from nTop models, our customers have access to the fastest and most reliable design-to-manufacture process, removing the need for a slow and painful conversion from lightweight nTop models to heavy and fragile meshes or boundary representations.”

Materialise is now showcasing the above technologies, as well as use cases of Additive Manufacturing in serial and certified manufacturing, during Formnext 2024 on booth C139 in Hall 12.1.

www.materialise.com

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