“Virfac iAM offers a disruptive technology based on a new generation solver engine entirely dedicated to the modelling of additive manufacturing. Virfac iAM is connected to the powerful Barracuda solver developed by GeonX, which runs on GPGPU processors bringing teraflop computing to desktop. Our new solver demonstrates amazing speed-up factors compared to conventional finite element solvers, ranging between 100 and 1000. The new Virfac iAM module aims to become the true virtual manufacturing simulator side by side to the manufacturing machine,” GeonX stated upon the announcement of Virfac iAM.
Virfac iAM simulation software joins Virfac offerings across a number of other manufacturing processes, as the Virfac portfolio now addresses:
- LBW, EBW, TIG, MIG, Brazing
- Thermoplastics Welding:
- Laser Transmission Welding
- Friction Welding:
- FSW, IFW, DFW
- Additive Manufacturing:
- SLM, EBM, Laser Cladding
- Heat Treatment:
- Stress Relief, Correction
- Surface Heat Treatment:
- Carburization, Nitriding
- Machining:
- Cutting, Oxycutting, etc.
- Damage Tolerance:
- Crack Stability and Propagation
Laurent D’Alvise
To learn more about what Virfac iAM offers users focused on additive manufacturing, at RAPID I had the opportunity to sit down with Laurent D’Alvise, CEO and Co-Founder of GeonX.
“This software is helping engineers to predict in advance how parts will behave,” D’Alvise told me. “This will predict failure time of parts in process and evaluate in-service parts. We have a background in welding and are extending that expertise to additive manufacturing. It is quite natural for us to go into additive manufacturing.”
The first release of this GeonX software was in 2016, D’Alvise explained. It is a complex process, engaging on a multi-physics approach to work at the subcomponent level. Predicting behaviors before printing will, he underscored, save time and material, which is critical for many users of high-end industrial 3D printing technologies.
“Released this week, the new product, Virfac iAM, is extremely powerful,” he continued. “It addresses the risk of failure before launching the print. It is a breakthrough for us, because it is much faster. It works on GPUs, not CPUs — on graphical processor units. This accelerates the process dramatically, with information in a very short time.”
BeAM’s Cincinnati office [Photo: Sarah Goehrke]
“Our objective is to expand our potential in the US, which is why we are launching our subsidiary in Cincinnati and working with BeAM,” D’Alvise explained. “We are also working on Directed Energy Deposition in addition to powder bed technology.”
Directed Energy Deposition (DED) is the basis of partner BeAM’s offerings, making their co-location further logical. When I visited the new BeAM Cincinnati US HQ earlier this month, I saw the office space that will be dedicated to the GeonX team; it is no exaggeration to say the companies will be working in very close proximity.
“We are a small company, but growing quickly. We now have 15 employees, and the US will have at least one or two for sales and support,” D’Alvise told me of the company’s operations.
GeonX, in addition to its headquarters in Gosselies, Belgium and new US location in Cincinnati, also has a location in Bayonne, France. The company is further active Eastern Europe, Italy, China, Japan, and South Korea. As additive manufacturing expands its global presence, well-operating software that can predict and simulate conditions becomes a critical component of smooth functioning operations performing at their best to unlock the full potential inherent in advanced manufacturing technologies. Discuss in the GeonX forum at 3DPB.com.
Virfac iAM powered by Barracuda – Additive Manufacturing simulation from GeonX on Vimeo.