EDINBURGH, UK, Apr 12, 2018 – EDEM, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) specialist and market leader, and The Barnes Group Advisors, specialists in advising on and solving problems associated with industrial additive manufacturing, today announced a collaboration agreement to advance the use of simulation to aid design decisions for equipment and processes in the additive manufacturing industry.
Additive manufacturing involves transport, storage and processing of powdered metals
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly growing industry. One common form is based on the repeated laying of powders that are selectively hardened using laser sintering or binding agents. The specific composition and behavioral traits of the powder used in this type of AM is highly influential on printer set-up and the build quality of the final part. Introducing a new powder into an AM process means that the set-up and design of printer components and operational conditions needs to be reviewed and configured to handle this new material effectively. Traditional approaches to such a process can be time-consuming and require physical testing based on trial-and-error adjustment.
CAE and simulation offer the AM industry the opportunity to reduce the amount of physical testing and time that is needed in a design process, and to understand how printers need to be configured to handle new powders. EDEM software is used in numerous industries to simulate the behavior of a wide range of bulk and granular materials, including powder processes. It has potential to be applied to various aspects of the AM process, including powder delivery, spreading, and cleaning operations.
EDEM simulates granular material processes such as powder spreading in AM; The Barnes Group Advisors specialize involving problems associated with industrial additive manufacturing
The partnership between EDEM and The Barnes Group Advisors aims to establish and demonstrate to the AM industry how simulation tools such as EDEM can bring insight into the design of AM equipment and processes including printers and help reduce reliance on physical testing for design work.
John Barnes, founder & managing director, The Barnes Group Advisor commented: “The Barnes Group Advisors sees great need for validating simulation for powder flow and spreading scenarios as additive manufacturing continues its rapid expansion. Part of that expansion is partly new types of materials and partly a need for more affordable materials. How they behave in systems and designing systems to move particles around is going to be very important. We see this activity as a win-win to be working with EDEM.”
Richard LaRoche, chief executive officer, EDEM added: “We are pleased to be collaborating with The Barnes Group Advisors who are leaders in the field of additive manufacturing. Our EDEM technology has already proven to be a key predictive tool in other industries handling powders such as the pharmaceutical sector and we are excited to explore how the additive manufacturing industry will be able to benefit from key design insights.”
To find out more about EDEM simulation technology visit EDEM’s website.
About EDEM
EDEM is the market-leading Discrete Element Method (DEM) software for bulk material simulation. EDEM simulation technology is used for ‘virtual testing’ of equipment that handles or processes bulk materials in the mining, equipment manufacturing and process industries. Companies worldwide use EDEM to optimize equipment design, increase productivity, reduce costs of operations, shorten product development cycles and drive product innovation. EDEM is a global company established in 2003 as DEM Solutions Ltd. and headquartered in Edinburgh, UK with offices in USA and Japan and supported by a network of channel partners in South America, South Africa and Asia-Pacific.
For more information, visit www.edemsimulation.com.
About The Barnes Group Advisors
The Barnes Group Advisors (TBGA) is the global leader in technology, systems & economics for Additive Manufacturing and member of America Makes. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has presence in Australia, the United Kingdom, Austin, TX, Phoenix, AZ and State College, PA. TBGA is comprised of seasoned specialists with over 70 years of experience in additive manufacturing, and leverages its staff of aerospace OEM trained, hands-on, AM engineering skills to help companies work through their AM adoption strategy via powder, metallurgy, requirements, mechanics, techno-economics, design and leadership and strategy.
For more information, visit www.thebarnes.group.
