With technology advancing every day, product design engineers need to keep pace with the demand of the industry. Due to the rapid evolution of advanced manufacturing technologies, the process of product development has become challenging. There is an increased demand of customisation of products to functional needs which has caused a technological revolution bearing an unprecedented level of complexity across all engineering disciplines.
Be it Automotive, Aerospace, Defence, or Healthcare, every industry is aiming to adopt the solutions to improve efficiency and performance of the product development process with automation. And that is where nTopology comes in as an engineering software platform built for digital manufacturing. At the core of nTop Platform lies the unbreakable implicit modelling engine; a technology that nTopology pioneered for applications in engineering design.
Why nTopology software?
Design engineering softwares use a wide range of representations to define products that are practically a part of our daily lives. These representations have been developed to accommodate different ways of inputting, interacting with, and manufacturing various shapes. Legacy CAD software were not built to solve today’s complex modelling problems in product design process.
Current bottlenecks in CAD software such as boundary representation (B-rep) and meshes are becoming increasingly problematic in advanced manufacturing and generative design. They also limit innovation as a variety of representations of shape are used to define and document real-world parts. For example, B-rep and mesh modelers are unable to perform routine operations such as offsetting, rounding, drafting, and even simple booleans with sufficient reliability. A software that can be used for advanced manufacturing while solving all challenges in design, simulation, and manufacturing is the need of the hour.
nTop’s implicit modelling technology offers a new set of tools that overcome operational limitations while describing parts with varying material properties. The robust modelling allows engineers to automate extensive workflows that would have previously required human intervention for operations such as design of fixtures, packaging, and implementing support structures. Contours, infills, hatch patterns or any other complex geometry required for a CAM output can be easily designed using implicit modelling.
Talking of the features it provides, implicit modelling brings fine detailing that was previously impossible to achieve. Variable thickness offsetting, automatic interference removal, graduated material properties, and displacement-mapped textures are a few others to name.
One among the greatest advantages offered by nTopology software is Topology Optimization. Essentially a feedback loop that involves operations to simulate, implicitize, apply manufacturing conditions, and repeat- as per the set of boundary conditions and constraints, Top Opt can be used to synthesize field-driven, robust engineering solutions like…
- Impact or energy absorption – Structural components
- Light weighting with or without increase in stiffness
- Improved thermal management e.g., heat exchangers, heat sinks, heat pipes
- Acoustics Designs – Vibration damping, NVH solutions
- Fluid flow optimisation and Part consolidation
In summary, a computational modelling platform for design and simulation in advanced manufacturing is required to cater to the nuances of the cutting-edge design industry. nTop with its field-driven approach unifies design, simulation, and manufacturing knowledge to enable automation, allowing engineers to design without limitations while improving workflows. Made to eliminate bottlenecks in design processes, nTopology helps in improved collaboration and data flows between teams, resulting in better productivity, and innovation.
To know more on how nTopology can enhance your product development process, drop a mail to Excel 3D on [email protected]
Sameet S Raut, CEO, Excel3D, started his journey in AM industry back in 2008, when he decided to pursue MSc in Rapid Product Development from the UK. Having worked for more than twelve years in 3D printing industry, Sameet possesses a rich experience of this technology while being known for his technical skills and research around it. From starting his journey as an Application engineer to Sales Application engineer, Business Head, and finally CEO, he has worked with 3DP in industries like Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace, Jewellery etc, and is currently focusing on expanding the capabilities of Advanced Manufacturing in Indian sectors.
