Trumpf, Siemens to offer software to streamline metal additive manufacturing

Nov. 16, 2016 – Laser system manufacturer Trumpf and engineering technology powerhouse Siemens are working together to develop a software solution to help industrialize laser metal fusion technology and make the additive manufacturing process for metal parts an integral part of the production process.

According to a joint statement from the companies, the aim is to integrate and streamline the entire powder-bed-based laser metal fusion (LMF) process for Trumpf printing machines into Siemens NX software. The offering will address part design and engineering for additive manufacturing as well as 3D print preparation with integrated Trumpf build processor technology.
 
“Our combined solution will offer customers a high degree of process reliability thanks to its use of smart product models through all phases of the process,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, CEO and president, Siemens PLM Software. “There will be no need for data conversion because the tools for design, simulation, 3D printing and NC programming of metal parts are integrated into one system.”
 
The solution will integrate the recently announced NX software technology for additive manufacturing with the Trumpf build processor and be sold with Trumpf TruPrint Laser Metal Fusion printers. The new software boasts a standardized user interface across the end-to-end additive manufacturing process, and aims to address the entire digital process chain, thus eliminating the need to use separate standalone applications for part design and data preparation.

“These are decisive factors in making additive manufacturing a realistic proposition for industrial applications,” added Peter Leibinger, head of the Trumpf laser technology/electronics division. “Our partnership will result in an optimum interaction between machine and software so customers can move forward with designs optimized for additive manufacturing.