Betatype helps boost metal AM productivity at nTopology

2 mins read

A partnership between nTopology and Betatype has yielded a 28% reduction in build time for a rocket nozzle part made using metal additive manufacturing (AM).

One of Betatype’s greatest strengths is the partnerships that it develops — both within the AM sector and across industry. Embracing opportunities for collaboration extends projects and produces a higher standard of result in ways that single entities can, and do, struggle to achieve in isolation.

Betatype’s recent partnership with nTopology is one such project that epitomises this philosophy. The two companies teamed up to develop and produce a functionally optimised rocket nozzle part.

nTopology designed the base mechanical structure of the part, using its nTop software to convert the 3D model of the nozzle part into an implicit model. The team then used nTopology’s topology optimisation and simulation tools to optimise component design. Working together with Betatype and applying the capabilities of its engine and process control technology, nTopology was able to further optimise the design for metal AM; specifically the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process.

This application of Betatype’s software technology enabled a significant increase in productivity for the complex metal rocket nozzle part. For this specific project, Betatype achieved a notable reduction in build time on the AM system from 25 hours down to 18 hours, or 28%.

Betatype founder and CEO Sarat Babu states: “Betatype’s partnership with nTopology is an excellent demonstration of how we can work with talented designers to make AM perform. The application clearly shows the benefits of combining the functional design and optimisation skills of our partner with process optimisation through our technology to achieve productivity levels that would not otherwise be possible with a standard metal LPBF platform.”

Brad Rothenberg, founder and CEO nTopology, adds: “For serial production in AM to work, it must make business sense. Through the partnership between nTopology and Betatype, and our shared belief in solving engineering problems by linking design, simulation and manufacturing processes directly, we’re able to present a strong business case for AM. We enable our customers to design and manufacture complex parts with speed, efficiency and reliability. We could not be happier with the results of this rocket nozzle case study and are looking forward to working on more joint projects.”

The rocket nozzle part was built in titanium on a Renishaw RenAM250 system by Betatype. It was a test part created to highlight how different solutions can be integrated through partnerships. The capabilities of nTop demonstrated how functionality can be improved through the application of intelligent design, while ensuring the part is fit for purpose. However, the input from the partnership with Betatype illustrates how the design can only take engineers so far, and complexity and functionality does not have to come at the expense of productivity.