Whether driven by more traditional topology optimisation or a new class of machine learning, cloud-enabled generative exploration tools, we will soon have ability to use our engineering knowledge to its fullest potential. Where traditionally we may have relied on best practice, on prior knowledge and best guess, we’re now able to full explore a design domain to find more novel and unthought of structures for our products. In applications where energy use or material mass are key factors, the benefits are huge.
Consider the space industry - while best estimates say that today the cost of putting a kilogram of material into orbit has fallen to around $25,000, every gram that can be stripped from a product headed for space is money in the bank.
Alongside this, we’ll soon be able to design new structures not only at the part scale, but also the mesoscale and beyond. With new additive manufacturing techniques, we’ll soon be able to design in functions and properties that vary across the span of a part, solving design requirements locally at the material level.
To do all this requires a radically new approach to how we design and engineer products and it’s this subject and more that will be the core focus at DEVELOP3D LIVE, held 16 April 2020 at the University of Sheffield.
Tickets are free - register at www.develop3dlive.com
