Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division and Stratasys have applied Hexagon's simulation technology to capture the behaviour of Stratasys' high-performance, ultra-lightweight Antero™ reinforced polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) materials and its additive manufacturing processes. These rigorously validated simulations offer Stratasys customers unique insight so they can lightweight components and introduce new sustainable aircraft and spacecraft faster. 3D printed plastic parts offer transformative lightweighting for aerospace, reducing the energy use and increasing the range of new aircraft.

When the material and processes are fully exploited by product designers, it may also reduce the cost caused by overengineering and the waste and lead times of traditional manufacturing. However, the adoption of plastics and additive methods for structural components has remained slow due to the industry's safety-critical nature and regulations. Providing engineering teams the simulation tools to validate that these materials will achieve the required part performance when manufactured is the "missing link", enabling designers to apply these breakthroughs.

Rigorously-validated multi-scale models of these new high-performance aerospace-approved materials — Stratasys Antero 840CN03 and Antero 800NA — have now been added to Hexagon's Digimat materials exchange ecosystem, with associated print process parameters from Stratasys' aerospace-ready 3D printers. Using these detailed proprietary models, engineers can create digital twins that accurately predict how parts printed with the chosen material and approved aerospace-ready Stratasys printer will perform in a digital reality with real-world use cases and certification tests before any physical prototypes are manufactured. Developed to be open, Digimat software gives manufacturers the ability to design lighter parts that can match metals in performance and avoid costly overengineering using their preferred finite element analysis (FEA) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools.

Moreover, companies that use Digimat in conjunction with Hexagon's MSC Nastran and MSC Apex will accelerate the certification and documentation of their work. The Antero™ materials are already being used at the cutting edge of aerospace engineering, bringing major innovations to reality on time, such as Lockheed Martin using Antero 840CN03 to create NASA's Orion spacecraft docking hatch cover. By making rigorous digital engineering and virtual manufacturing possible with these new simulation tools, more product development teams can apply and de-risk Stratasys' aerospace additive manufacturing solutions.

Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division and Stratasys, a leader in polymer 3D printing solutions, have applied Hexagon's simulation technology to capture the behaviour of Stratasys' high-performance, ultra-lightweight Antero™ reinforced polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) materials and its additive manufacturing processes. These rigorously validated simulations offer Stratasys customers unique insight so they can lightweight components and introduce new sustainable aircraft and spacecraft faster. 3D printed plastic parts offer transformative lightweighting for aerospace, reducing the energy use and increasing the range of new aircraft.

When the material and processes are fully exploited by product designers, it may also reduce the cost caused by overengineering and the waste and lead times of traditional manufacturing. However, the adoption of plastics and additive methods for structural components has remained slow due to the industry's safety-critical nature and regulations. Providing engineering teams the simulation tools to validate that these materials will achieve the required part performance when manufactured is the "missing link", enabling designers to apply these breakthroughs.

Rigorously-validated multi-scale models of these new high-performance aerospace-approved materials — Stratasys Antero 840CN03 and Antero 800NA — have now been added to Hexagon's Digimat materials exchange ecosystem, with associated print process parameters from Stratasys' aerospace-ready 3D printers. Using these detailed proprietary models, engineers can create digital twins that accurately predict how parts printed with the chosen material and approved aerospace-ready Stratasys printer will perform in a digital reality with real-world use cases and certification tests before any physical prototypes are manufactured. Developed to be open, Digimat software gives manufacturers the ability to design lighter parts that can match metals in performance and avoid costly overengineering using their preferred finite element analysis (FEA) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools.

Moreover, companies that use Digimat in conjunction with Hexagon's MSC Nastran and MSC Apex will accelerate the certification and documentation of their work. The Antero™ materials are already being used at the cutting edge of aerospace engineering, bringing major innovations to reality on time, such as Lockheed Martin using Antero 840CN03 to create NASA's Orion spacecraft docking hatch cover. By making rigorous digital engineering and virtual manufacturing possible with these new simulation tools, more product development teams can apply and de-risk Stratasys' aerospace additive manufacturing solutions.

Through the partnership between Stratasys and Hexagon, which has spanned more than a decade, several high-performance thermoplastic materials — including Ultem™ 9085, Ultem 9085 CG, Ultem™ 1010, and Nylon12CF — have been characterised and added to Hexagon's Digimat material modelling software.