Hexagon partners with CADS Additive to reduce waste and improve additive design for manufacturing productivity

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has announced a new partnership with CADS Additive. The companies will exchange technologies to progress design for additive manufacturing. Under the agreement, Hexagon has integrated the build prep specialist’s material-saving support structure generation technology into its Simufact Additive software. CADS Additive will also integrate Hexagon’s build simulation capabilities into its AM-Studio software.

Hexagon’s metal AM build simulation software, Simufact Additive, is used by global manufacturers to optimise production and compensate distortions resulting from laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and metal binder jetting (MBJ) processes to deliver high quality parts with minimal waste. The latest version, released in November 2021, introduces powerful support structure creation provided by CADS Additive that enables customers to further reduce their manufacturing preparation effort, material costs and build time.

Customers can now create lightweight hollow rod supports, complex line supports or block supports using CADS Additive, and achieve further optimisation of material utilisation with access to the company’s innovative high-stiffness “heart cell” support structures and metal-optimised tree supports. These support structures can be added to parts using a native Simufact Additive interface that utilises all the features of the CADS Additive technology. This deep integration provides the user complete control over support structure parameters and enables the user to simulate the support structure and part build without any additional steps or software.

Patrick Mehmert, Solution Manager – metal additive manufacturing at Hexagon commented: “We have been very impressed with CADS Additive’s support structure capabilities and the team’s passion for pushing the boundaries of additive manufacturing. This complements our build simulation perfectly, enabling customers to not only optimise the material and process used to make the part, but to provide complete control over the creation of highly efficient and innovative support structures that significantly reduce material waste.”

Under the new partnership, CADS Additive has also licensed build process simulation capabilities from Hexagon that will be embedded in its AM-Studio software to enable customers to validate their build feasibility and predict distortions to avoid print issues.

Daniel Stadlmayr, Technical Director, CADS Additive: “This collaboration is a win for all the industry. We are pleased that Hexagon has chosen to implement our additive support technology in Simufact Additive. Having such accurate build simulation really helps manufacturers to get the best quality results from their printer and reduce failure, and we are pleased that we can offer our AM-Studio customers greater confidence before they commit to print.”

Simufact Additive is a scalable software solution for the simulation of metal-based additive manufacturing processes which focuses on laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and metal binder jetting (MBJ) processes. Simufact Additive is designed to predict and compensate for distortion, residual stress and temperature distribution throughout the printing, heat treatment, cutting, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) as well as machining processes virtually before the part is manufactured by the 3D metal printer in reality.

For more information about Simufact Additive, please visit https://www.simufact.com and for more information about CADS Additive please visit https://www.cads-additive.com.

About Hexagon

Hexagon is a global leader in digital reality solutions, combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies. We are putting data to work to boost efficiency, productivity, quality and safety across industrial, manufacturing, infrastructure, public sector, and mobility applications. 

Our technologies are shaping production and people-related ecosystems to become increasingly connected and autonomous – ensuring a scalable, sustainable future. 

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division provides solutions that use data from design and engineering, production and metrology to make manufacturing smarter. For more information, visit hexagonmi.com. 

Hexagon (Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXA B) has approximately 21,000 employees in 50 countries and net sales of approximately 3.8bn Euro. Learn more at hexagon.comand follow us @HexagonAB.

About CADS Additive

CADS Additive is a fully owned subsidiary of CADS GmbH, based in Perg, Austria. CADS and CADS Additive are specialized in the development of intuitive and high-performance software solutions for industrial applications. CADS Additive stands for development of outstanding software components and intuitive software solutions for metal-based additive manufacturing and is classified as an innovative and competent partner in the field of industrial metal 3D printing worldwide. Besides the field of additive manufacturing CADS has a well-established and reputable history in the medical and engineering industry. Learn more at cads-additive.com | Follow us on LinkedIn CADS Additive GmbH

Media Contacts:

Robin Wolstenholme
Global Media Relations and Analyst Relations Manager
Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence Division
Phone: +44(0)7407 642190
E-mail: [email protected]

Global press office including April Six (agency): [email protected]