Designed to make 3D printing easier and more accurate, GrabCAD Print resides on the popular SaaS platform and is powered by a new "design-to- 3D print" workflow application. Taking this solution further, it will now incorporate Polygonica mesh libraries – enabling automatic mesh repair, mesh offsetting, Boolean operations, and analysis functions.
Dr Fenqiang Lin, MachineWorks Managing Director, explained, "GrabCAD and Polygonica share the same philosophy of enabling a single ‘click-to- print' methodology for 3D models, in the same way we do with 2D printing. The user doesn't want or need to know about what software is used to prepare the file, they just want their CAD model printed with the minimum of fuss."
Polygonica's mesh repair functions ensure models are closed and watertight, free of self-intersections, badly oriented triangles, noise shells and non-manifold edges. The algorithms can be applied either fully or semi-automatically to ensure minimal disruption to the printing workflow. Robust Boolean and offsetting operations are vital for preparation tasks such as splitting models, engraving meshes, hollowing and infilling meshes; Polygonica analysis tools such as optimal orientation and clash detection can be used for build plate optimisation.
"MachineWorks has set an industry standard for CNC simulation and verification software – backed by its robust Polygonica solid modelling toolkit for processing polygon meshes," said Jon Stevenson, Senior Vice President Global Software, Stratasys. "Combined with the power of GrabCAD Print to streamline and simplify the 3D printing process, customers can dramatically enhance 3D printing design freedom and creativity to accelerate the prototyping, tooling and manufacturing process."
