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A Casting Region can be added to the Casting Manufacturing Method. A Casting Region defines casting specific settings for separate regions of the Design Space.
If Casting Regions are used, please make sure that all areas of the Design Space are covered. If a Main Draw Direction is also specified, there is automatically one additional region covering the whole Design Space.

Hints

  • Strut Density is without function for casting.

  • More Draw Directions extend the calculation time.

  • Big Radius values will extend the calculation time. Too small radii can cause issues during the material erosion.

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Given are the maximum allowable stress of the material with 100 MPa and the Safety Factor with a value of 5. With a scaled target stress in build direction of 80% we receive the following values considered in the optimization:

Target Stress (In-Plane directions)

20 MPa

Scale Target Stress in build direction

0.8

Target Stress in build direction

16 MPa

Support Reduction

The Support Redcution function is not available in this add-in version. The function will return shortly redesigned and improved.

The Support Reduction function reduces the needed support structure for the optimized part in regard to the Build Plane. The target is to reduce the amount of needed support for overhang angles of 45° while maintaining nearly the same mechanical performance as designs without manufacturing constraints.

Strategy

Three different strategies are available:

  • Passive

  • Reactive

  • Active

The influence of the Support Reduction on the design increases from Passive to Reactive to Active.

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This comparison shows the influence of the three different Support Reduction strategies regarding the resulting mass, the maximum deflection and the needed support volume compared to a base design without any support strategy.

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Intensity

For the strategies Reactive and Active a second value can be defined, the Intensity. The Intensity can be set between 1 and 10, where 1 is very low and 10 is very high. Take in mind that a very high Intensity could lead to a slower performance and unusual results.

Hints

  • If a Build Plane is added, this Build Plane will act as the Working Coordinate System for the optimization. Symmetry can only be used with reference to the Build Plane and therefore the defined Working Coordinate System.

  • It is recommended to start with the first Support Reduction strategy (Passive) and use the other two together with the Intensity if the results are not satisfying.

  • Use the Shape QualityFine Tune to get better results and get rid of artifacts that can occur during the Support Reduction.