Gen3D has been acquired by Altair, giving the simulation giant further tools for creating complex geometries and lattices.
Gen3D’s technology and team will be integrated into Altair Inspire to help enable simulation-driven design throughout the entire product development lifecycle, from concept to reality.
A startup out of the University of Bath that featured on the 2020 D3D 30 list, Gen3D uses an implicit geometry method to rapidly create complex geometry not practical with traditional boundary representation (BREP) solid approaches – helping it describe highly complex geometries such as lattice structures in additive manufacturing.
The software allows for components to be designed by specifying the functional requirements for the part (loads, holes for fastenings, keep-out zones, ducts for fluid flow etc), while also filtering out component geometries that are likely to cause downstream manufacturing issues.
Our favourite example of its powers focuses on a traditional block manifold which, with many topology optimisers, might easily reduce to just the minimal structural material around the valves. The valves will still protrude at right angles, as that will be deemed the only way to manufacture the part.
What sets Gen3D apart is its ability to simulate the optimum flow angles of those valves and redesign both them and their supporting structure to take advantages of additive manufacturing. Continuous automated manufacturing checks mean that downstream build constraints are never lost amidst all the design work.
“In addition to a powerful technology that helps organisations navigate the challenges of design for additive manufacturing, the Gen3D team brings deep industry knowledge and experience in advanced additive design techniques such as generative design, topology optimisation, and lattice structure generation,” said Altair CEO James R. Scapa.
