nTopology’s Partnership With Betatype Yields 28% Reduction in Build Time for Rocket Nozzle Part with Metal AM.

One of Betatype’s greatest strengths is the partnerships that it develops — both within the additive manufacturing (AM) industry and across industrial sectors. 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.

Rocket Nozzle / Designed by nTopology, built by Betatype in Grade 23 Titanium (190mm x 190mm x 200mm).

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 Platform software to convert the 3D model of the nozzle part into an implicit model. The team then used nTopology’s advanced topology optimisation and simulation tools to optimise the design of the part. Working together with Betaype and applying the capabilities of its unique Engine and Process Control technology, they were able to further optimise the design for metal additive manufacturing; specifically the laser powder bed fusion (PBF) 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%.

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

Rocket Nozzle / Designed by nTopology, in Grade 23 Titanium (190mm x 190mm x 200mm).

Brad Rothenberg, Founder and CEO nTopology further stated:“For serial production in additive manufacturing 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 are able to present a strong business case for additive manufacturing. 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 AM250 system by Betatype. It was a test part created to highlight how different solutions can be integrated through partnerships. The capabilities of nTop Platform 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 you so far, and complexity and functionality does not have to come at the expense of productivity.

Productivity is a key driver for the uptake of AM, and it is here that partnering with Betatype can bring significant returns through the application of its unique technology portfolio for metal AM.

Rocket Nozzle / As built onto the base plate in in Grade 23 Titanium (190mm x 190mm x 200mm).

Source: Betatpye