With the wide-spread use of additive manufacturing, you now have more options than ever before for part and assembly design. That’s because without the restrictions of traditional manufacturing, more intricate structures can now be used to optimize weight, strength, and even heat distribution.
(For an overall introduction, read our Beginner’s Guide to Lattice Structures in Additive Manufacturing.)
In a recent presentation from PTC University, Matt Huybrecht discussed and demonstrated new features in Creo that support lattice structures for those who want to use them. However, before you start, a few questions came up that we thought you might find interesting:
Can I do a structural analysis on stochastic lattices?
YES! The DISPLAY of the geometry is that of simplified representation geometry, but the lattice geometry does contribute to mass properties calculations. Therefore, you can leverage it in structural analyses.
How is the additive manufacturing functionality licensed in Creo Parametric and what are the differences?
There are two licenses available:
- Creo Additive Manufacturing Extension (AMX) – An add-on extension that provides lattice structure creation and optimization and printer tray setup. It includes basic additive manufacturing capabilities, including:
- Out-of-the-box 3D printer support for Stratasys and 3D Systems printers.
- Model preparation (tessellation)
- Printer tray setup
- Global scaling
- Printability validation
- Model interrogation
- Calculations of build material
- Option to order 3D print
- Creo Additive Manufacturing Plus Extension – An add-on extension that provides 3D metal printer connectivity, printer management, and tools to automate support structure generation.
For even more guidance from the PTC University team, check out the new LEARN classes now available online.
