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[charlie T colton]

What is Design for Additive Manufacturing?

What is Design for Additive Manufacturing? - June 14, 2016

If you work in design engineering, then you have probably heard of the design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) philosophies.


For example, when manufacturing a metal part with a milling process, using aluminum with just the right balance of material properties compared to steel can save tooling costs. Steel is harder than aluminum, and tools wear out a lot quicker when cutting steel. So this particular manufacturing issue has been addressed early on—money is saved, and engineers (and the finance department) are happy.

Likewise, DFA seeks to reduce costs by factoring ease of assembly into the early design. Picture the aluminum part mentioned in the DFM example. Imagine that it needs to be mechanically mated to another part, thus making it an assembly of some kind. How do you mate it? Maybe you wish to use a series of fasteners to connect the two. Certain fasteners are easier to work with. In any case, fasteners typically make up 5 percent of bill of materials cost yet contribute up to 70 percent of the labor cost. So maybe fasteners aren’t optimal in this case.

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Think fresh. Do not allow yourself to remain stuck to old designs. Yes, they may work, but that old rocket injector was designed in simpler times, and its design was dictated by the design rules of the time. Ask yourself—what does 3D printing allow that wasn’t possible before?

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Just to recap: Forget everything you have learned, because it’s useless. Don’t get hung up on old designs, because they were based on old design rules. Buy some new software that will allow for some topology optimization. And make sure that your parts are rugged enough from the beginning to facilitate the removal of support material.

Here’s a takeaway quotation from 3D Systems’ former CEO Avi Reichental that summarizes the entire philosophy of DFAM:

“In AM, complexity is free. So step back away from the constraints of old. Just let your mind soar, design what you want and let the software do the rest.”