Abstract
The field of additive manufacturing (AM) technology is advancing rapidly, with processes becoming more versatile, stable, accurate and economical at a steady pace. Advantages of AM compared to traditional manufacturing methods include the large geometrical freedom it offers to designers, combined with the fact that costs are nearly insensitive to geometrical complexity. This offers opportunities to create highly optimized components where form follows functionality. One of the bottlenecks in the adoption of AM is, however, the lack of knowledge based tools for part design, integrated with AM process optimisation and part performance optimisation. Such tools will enable the industry to utilize the possibilities with specific AM materials and processes, while taking into account and handling the geometry specific constraints and limitations of the given AM processes and materials. The present contribution reports on some of the development carried out within the NFR supported MKRAM competence project on the mechanical properties of AM parts as well as integration of such results in a value chain of modelling tools including topology optimisation and process development.