Live Parts™

Rapid design exploration through real-time generative design.

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Studio System™ Background Video
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    Designs for the Real World

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    Easy Interactive Modeling

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    Manufacturing-ready Parts

_Benefits

Live Parts™ makes generative design easy. Simply set constraints and loading conditions and create optimized, manufacturing-ready models in a matter of minutes.

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High-quality parts

Designs for the Real World

Live Parts™ brings the radical geometry of generative design into the real world. A combination of dynamic simulation and live finite element analysis results in parts that are highly optimized and able to stand up to both expected and unexpected conditions.

Optimized Parts

Optimized Parts

Part geometry is optimised throughout the generation process. Easily produce stable, optimized designs in a matter or minutes.

Dynamic simulation environment

Dynamic simulation environment

With a complex, multiphysics environment, Live Parts™ accounts for compounding environmental and application forces — strengthening parts for both expected and unexpected conditions.

Live FEA Analysis

Live FEA Analysis

View FEA analysis throughout part generation to assess progress and performance. View how your part, in its designated material, will stand up to real-world conditions by toggling between von Mises stress and displacement in real time.

High-quality parts

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Easy Interactive Modelling

Live Parts™ allows users to take control of the modeling process. With the ability to adjust parameters on the fly, users can see designs change in real-time and easily export them to CAD software for refinement.

Real-Time Generation

Real-Time Generation

Parts are generated in real time and respond to forces as they're applied, meaning users can quickly arrive at the best solution without waiting for a blackbox algorithm or analyzing multiple options for selection.

Live Adjustable Parameters

Live Adjustable Parameters

Adjust parameters - force, magnitude, material, direction - live and immediately see the impact of the changes in real-time throughout the build. Forces, material, support angles and more can be adjusted on the fly during growth.

Seamless CAD integration

Seamless CAD integration

Live Parts™ enables direct export to Solidworks and other CAD software for assembly and further finite element analysis (FEA) and modeling. Designs can easily be moved between CAD software and Live Parts™, simplifying iteration without repeating setup processes.

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Manufacturing-ready parts

With Live Parts™ there’s no need to spend additional time refining generative designs for manufacturing. Simply define your constraints and the software does the rest, resulting in manufacturing optimized models that are ready to build.

Additive design constraints

Additive design constraints

With the ability to set constraints on build direction, supports, and more, designs generated by Live Parts™ can be optimized for 3D printing success.

Automatic smoothing

Automatic smoothing

Part geometry is automatically smoothed — creating clean files and avoiding issues of concentrated stresses, resulting in geometry ready for manufacture.

Manufacturing-optimized

Manufacturing-optimized

Export files in the format needed for your manufacturing method - whether additive or subtractive - including water-tight STLs and solid-body models. Or import back into CAD for further refinement and featuring.

Part gallery

_Live Parts™ applications

Live Parts™ applications span a variety of industries including manufacturing, tooling, automotive, consumer, electronics, and oil & gas.

  • Skateboard Truck

    17-4 PH
    This part attaches wheels to a skateboard deck, and was optimized using generative design tools

    Skateboard Truck

    • Size (mm) 201 x 76 x 52
      Cost to print ($) 161.00
      Cost to DMLS ($) 1163.00
      Cost reduction 86.00%

    • Generative design and 3D printing allows for the fabrication of innovative designs impossible with casting (the traditional production method for skateboard trucks).

      The Studio System can print that previously impossible geometry, resulting in trucks that are more aesthetically pleasing, stronger, and lighter.

  • Generative Piston Head

    4140
    Prototype piston head for a reciprocating engine, optimized with generative design.

    Generative Piston Head

    • Size (mm) 105 x 105 x 54
      Cost to print ($) 271.00
      Cost to machine ($) 568.13
      Savings vs. machining 52.30%

    • Typically CNC machined from aluminum alloy, pistons can be time consuming and difficult to rapidly prototype and test - often taking months or even years to move from design to production.

      With the Studio System, various piston designs can be easily prototyped and tested—speeding up product development timelines, reducing time to market, and introducing new opportunities for optimization, including generative design—all while avoiding CNC backlog and lead times.

  • Generative Bracket

    17-4 PH
    This bracket holds a sensor in place on an industrial machine and leverages generative design to reduce the part weight and material usage.

    Generative Bracket

    • Size (mm) 68 x 43 x 33
      Cost per part ($) 36.51
      Parts per build 30
      Weekly throughput 271

    • Only 100 brackets were needed for the initial pilot run of an industrial machine. The Shop System was an excellent manufacturing fit as it did not require tooling and allowed production to kick off as soon as the design was complete—greatly reducing both manufacturing lead time and part cost.

      Printing these parts on the Shop System also opened up a unique opportunity to easily apply generative design without the same geometric limitations common to traditional manufacturing. For this part, the team used Live Parts to optimize the geometry for the specific loading scenarios involved in the application as well as the build requirements of binder jetting.

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Applications by Industry

_Industries

Explore applications for 3D printing across a range of industries.

  • Automotive

    For automotive manufacturers, 3D printing opens new opportunities for rapid prototyping, creating parts with more complexity than ever before, identifying opportunities for assembly consolidation and exploring new business models centered around on-demand production.

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  • Consumer goods

    Consumer Goods

    Manufacturers of consumer goods can use 3D printing for rapid prototyping and testing of new designs for both functionality and market feedback, and as a flexible manufacturing line for low-volume and regionally-targeted production that allows greater design freedom for product customization.

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  • Education

    By investing in 3D printing, educational institutions provide students the tools to bring their work to life, help them build important career skills and enable them to act as additive manufacturing champions when they enter the workforce.

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  • Machine Design

    Using 3D printing, machine designers can print and test multiple part variations, create geometry that cannot be machined, consolidate large assemblies into fewer parts and reduce warehousing costs by printing custom parts on demand.

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  • Heavy Industry

    Heavy industry firms can use metal 3D printing to create highly-customized components from hard-to-machine materials, keep per-part costs low for custom, low-volume parts, and enable the creation of new designs with greater geometric complexity.

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  • Manufacturing Tooling

    For companies that produce manufacturing tooling, 3D printing can be an invaluable resource, allowing them to quickly and inexpensively produce complex, custom tooling and easily replace tools when needed, reducing downtime on manufacturing lines.

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