Miracle Materialize Magics: Nissan spends seconds instead of several months of work

Nissan Motor Corporation uses 3D printing to create prototypes and conduct experiments with new car forms. Previously, these tasks required a large amount of manual work. Thanks to the Materialise software, it was possible to change the whole process and make it much more efficient. Data preparation time was reduced from a few months to a few seconds.

How to drastically reduce the time of data preparation and support deletion

Since the 3D printer building platform is limited in size, some large parts need to be printed in pieces. Until recently, Nissan used CAD software to split large parts into smaller parts, and this process could take about three days. Now, thanks to the Materialization Magics software, data preparation time has been reduced by 50%.
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“In Materialize Magics, objects can be easily divided in a specific place, and the operating time will be reduced by about half,” say Nissan experts. “There is also a useful feature that allows you to automatically create position pins when performing partitions, which makes assembly easier.”

Another problem that the automaker faces is the risk that components will deform or bend due to high temperatures during construction during sintering of the powder . As shown in Figure 3, this can be prevented by creating supporting structures. You can create a very thin connection between the supports and the component, so the supports are easy to remove, which speeds up the post-processing.



Fig. 1: automatic creation of positional pins on the cut (locating pins are also supported)
Fig. 2: grooves for fitting can also be created during separation
Fig. 3: Supports and other types of support structures to prevent deformation can be created by simply clicking on two points that need support.

Just a few clicks instead of a month of work.

In addition to separating large parts, Nissan also pays special attention to wall thickness adjustment. When reducing the scale of the 3D model of the car, the wall thickness of the part becomes correspondingly thinner, and the obtained data cannot be sent to print. Previously, the design was changed manually in CAD, and this task required about a month of work.

“We had to search through more than 20 thousand reference points in order to find components with thin walls and then increase their thickness. When it came to 3D printing of solid components , it took a lot of work to change the gaps between the parts in the original design, so as to provide for a connection between the parts, ”explains the staff of Nissan.

Since Nissan began using Materialize Magics, a whole range of processes can be accomplished with one click.

Today, Nissan saves a lot of time with Magics software, which automates these steps.

“Since we started using Materialize Magics , processes such as automatic correction of data errors, thickness search using an arbitrary value and data fusion can be performed with a single click, which significantly reduces operation time (Fig. 4). In addition, using the wall thickness analysis function, the thickness of each part can be visualized, due to which it is possible to recognize all the parts with thin walls that cannot be printed (Fig. 5). In addition, after selecting an arbitrary area, you can change the thickness for this area. This is a function that we often use (Fig. 6). "



Fig. 4: automated processing for data recovery and wall thickening
Fig. 5: using the wall thickness analysis function, you can visualize the thickness of each part, due to which it is possible to recognize all the parts with thin walls that cannot be printed
Fig. 6: Thickness change after selecting an arbitrary area (green area)

Automatic placement of parts in a 3D printer: another time saving factor

Stage 1: manual placement of parts using 3D printer software
Stage 2: there are gaps between parts to avoid contact - this placement is not optimal
Stage 3: checking the touching parts with the help of 3D printer software (from 10 minutes to several hours). If contact is detected, return to step 1.
Stage 4: Launch 3D Printing

The most important aspects of the efficiency of a 3D printer using the powder sintering method are the placement of parts in such a way that the maximum number of them can be printed in one session, as well as the height restriction after the parts are placed. This approach reduces material costs and assembly time, and optimizes machine usage.

Before Nissan began using the Magics Sinter software module, the software that came with the 3D printer was used. It assumed the manual placement of parts so that they do not touch each other, as well as the maximum height limit (steps 1 and 2). Then the same software was used to check the contact details. Placing parts manually took a lot of time, and alignment of the distance between them could take several hours (step 3).

“This not only slowed the launch of 3D printing, but also made it impossible to create a production schedule, because we did not know when the calculations would end, it was very difficult for us. If it was found that the objects relate to each other, we had to redo the project manually and then run another check, which was problematic both in terms of scheduling and in terms of staff time, ”the company specialists say.



1: Magics Sinter module provides automatic placement of parts in the optimal configuration
2: 3D printing can be started immediately!
3: protective box for small, fragile parts
4: placement optimization options with heat dissipation

“The Sinter module in Materialize Magics automatically places the components, while maintaining the specified interval between the parts and limiting the height, and now we no longer need to spend several hours on checking the touches and repeatedly repeating manual work. Parts that did not fit completely on the building platform had to be placed on several different platforms before. Since the Sinter Module keeps the correct spacing between components, they can now be printed in one session. By increasing the volume of one print job, we can reduce the number of working hours, the number of hours the printer is busy for operations such as data preparation, print time and cooling time, and the amount of raw materials used. As a result, the whole process of 3D printing has now become more efficient! ”

Material provided by Materialize. Original article - by reference .