Deakin works with MSC Software to build additive manufacturing skills in Australia

MSC is supporting Deakin University with its additive manufacturing courses for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. It will assist with expert knowledge, and access to leading industrial software used by companies such as BAE Systems and Danfoss to industrialise emerging additive manufacturing techniques.

The global additive manufacturing market is expected to reach $125bn by 2025, and the collaboration between Deakin and MSC will build a regional hub of skills for graduates to take into this fast-growing market. The new course will advance students’ understanding of increasingly industrialised metal 3D printing techniques and also cutting-edge polymer-based additive manufacturing processes.

The Additive Manufacturing Processes and Applications course will be conducted online due to COVID-19. To support the theoretical course work in virtual printing, students will also get experience using industry-leading software for generative design (MSC Apex Generative Design), metal additive manufacturing (Simufact Additive) and polymer or composite 3D printing (Digimat AM). These products will give students a wide range of skills, including design for additive manufacturing, predicting and mitigating quality issues, and predicting the final part performance of advanced new composite printing materials. They will learn to implement the entire workflow right from topology optimisation – how to achieve the required mechanical performance with the least material – to 3D printing.

More than half of students currently enrolled are from industry and will study as part of their master’s degree. The course format covers industrial engineering workflows, general modelling and optimisation, and how to use new generative design techniques that can help automatically optimise product designs for minimal weight and material use:

• Workflow from topology optimisation to additive manufacturing.
• Introduction of the general modeling process of topology optimisation, in MSC Apex Generative Design.
• Introduction of additive manufacturing simulation, in Simufact.
• Interpretation of predicted results in additive manufacturing simulation.
• Compensation modelling in additive manufacturing simulation, to accurately print the part first time.
• Building a topology-optimised part and printing it in a virtual environment.

Associate Professor Wei Xu of Deakin University says: “The course gives students a holistic understanding, right from generative design through to additive manufacturing; including how the 3D printing process simulation helps to print complex topology-optimised products. More importantly, students will be able to design the printing process themselves, using manufacturing knowledge from the industry, giving them a seamless connection to industry practices. They have an opportunity to access high-end additive manufacturing solutions that are being used by big, global companies.”

Sridhar Dharmarajan, Executive Vice-President & Managing Director for MSC Software Indo Pacific, says the course format is specifically designed to give students the skills necessary to optimise design and achieve a lightweight product, while appreciating design constraints: “It’s important that students are equipped with the necessary abilities to work in the fast-developing additive manufacturing industry, which is playing an increasing role in high-value sectors such as aerospace, automotive, marine, energy and medical equipment.”