CoreTechnologie Optimizes AI-Supported 3D Nesting Software for Higher Efficiency

Franco-German software provider CoreTechnologie has further optimized the nesting module of its 4D_Additive 1.6 software for the automatic placement of parts in the virtual build space of a 3D printer. This new nesting function is said to deliver significantly higher efficiency while maintaining a very easy usage.

Because of the intelligent presorting of the parts to be nested and the further improved calculation accuracy, the new version of the 4D_Additive software now achieves unprecedented packing densities. This leads to a 30% reduction in printing time with the same number of parts because of a lower packing height. The increased packing density and lower overall height lead to shorter machine running and cooling times. In practice, this increase in productivity means a considerable competitive advantage for all users.

To avoid heat pockets and to achieve optimum surface quality, it is important that the nested parts are optimally distributed. After the actual nesting, an automatic optimization process takes place, which ensures that heat pockets are avoided by slightly rearranging the components in the X, Y and Z direction. The lowest height achieved during nesting is also maintained during heat optimization.

The calculation speed of the new nesting function is significantly reduced by 50% and more thanks to better utilization of the multiprocessor calculation and optimized memory management.

Because of the new nesting function, large parts can now be nested more precisely and will be optimally distributed in terms of the utilization of the available space. Gaps between the big parts can then be efficiently used for the smaller parts. As the new nesting technology enables very high packing densities, a limiting parameter can be used to limit the maximum packing density and thus the temperature development.

The company says that a printing process with the HP MJF 4200 printer with a build height of 380 mm and 16 hours is nested with a reduced build height of just 283 mm instead of 357 mm thanks to the new nesting function. With the 1.6 Version, the overall height is reduced by 74 mm and the resulting printing time is reduced by three hours. The packing density increases from 8% to just over 10% and the duration of the nesting process is reduced from 8 to 3.5 minutes. With 250 production days per year per machine, an increase in efficiency or reduction in running time of three hours results in additional productivity of around 750 hours. The reduced cooling time resulting from the shorter printing time potentially saves up to an additional nine hours. The effective production time and production costs are significantly reduced by the new function. This makes additive manufacturing even more attractive for many applications because of the enormous time and cost savings.

In the highly competitive service sector and for the increasingly important additive manufacturing in mechanical and plant engineering as well as in the electronics and consumer goods sector, the higher efficiency that can be achieved through a performant nesting process is an important competitive factor.