VoxelDance Additive
VDA 4.0
AM Software provider VoxelDance announced in early October the upcoming release of Voxeldance Additive 4.0, the latest version of its All-in-One AM build preparation software, a significant part of its mission to help businesses boost productivity with AM industrial applications.
“After listening to the needs of clients from 9+ verticals, including aerospace, medical, automotive, mould, footwear, dental, education, jewellery, prototype, etc., we introduced more exciting new features and further optimised the algorithm,” said Chaoxin Zhang, CEO at VoxelDance. “VDA 4.0 fully supports SLM, SLA, SLS printing technologies and is a milestone for industrial applications.”
VoxelDance says that the new shrink wrap feature in VDA 4.0 can accurately calculate and wrap a layer around the part while ignoring its inner details. This is often used in the architecture, automotive and dental industries, where data can have complex errors that are unable to be automatically fixed.
VDA 4.0 includes a mesh smooth feature that can assist in removing sharp details and return a more appealing geometry for printing, it also features web support and tree support. Tree support can save more material compared to other supports according to VoxelDance. The company also says that in SLM printing, web support can better constrain the shrinkage of ring-shaped surfaces and prevent part deformation, compared to volume support and other support types.
VoxelDance emphasised the importance of border reinforcement in SLM printing, where the volume support can crack at the base edges, resulting in overly deformed or unusable parts. Border reinforcement can help to provide stronger support restraint, which ensures the part is held stable on the base plate.
Another new element of the VDA 4.0 is the BP special volume feature, which the company says allows users to assign special volume and configure different laser scanning strategies where it intersects the part. It aims for this to produce improved print quality in rich-detailed sub-areas.
