MachineWorks, Stratasys Partner to Enhance 3D Printing Design Software

MachineWorks Ltd. (Sheffield, United Kingdom) has announced a new partnership with Stratasys Ltd. (Eden Prairie, Minnesota). As part of the agreement, the company’s Polygonica software will now work seamlessly within Stratasys’ GrabCAD Print software.

Designed to make 3D printing easier and more accurate, GrabCAD Print is a software as a service (SaaS) powered by a “design-to-3D print” workflow application. It will now incorporate Polygonica’s mesh libraries, enabling automatic mesh repair, mesh offsetting, Boolean operations and analysis functions.

Dr. Fenqiang Lin, MachineWorks managing director, explains, “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 a minimum of fuss.”

Polygonica’s mesh repair functions ensure models are closed and watertight, and 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 in-filling meshes, the company says. Polygonica analysis tools such as optimal orientation and clash detection can also be used for build-plate optimization.