AutoFab: New version 1.4 released

Update Information AutoFab Version 1.4

Detailed information in PDF format for download

The update (Build 6760) for the previous AutoFab version 1.2 contains the improvements over the previous version described below.

1. Exposure of skin areas:

With the new version skin areas of a part can be detected and exposed separately. Thereby, the quality of the surface in this area can be optimized.

a.) Single slice and b.) whole part with separate skin hatch

So far, only the overhang- and volume areas of a part were identified and exposed separately. In AutoFab it is now also possible to define individual exposure methods and laser parameters for skin areas of a part. Thereby, all exposure options of AutoFab are available.

2. New exposure styles:

In addition to the previously existing exposure method stripes, the additional exposure methods chessboard, offset and meander were integrated.

The now existing exposure methods are briefly listed below:

Meander: The hatches run at a defined distance and direction meandering throughout the entire exposure area. This method is particularly suitable for exposure of thin-walled and narrow parts.

Stripes: The exposure area is divided into individual stripes of defined width and direction and is successively exposed. The hatches within the stripes run parallel to the stripe boundaries in a defined distance to each other. The previous standard exposure of AutoFab can be used for all parts, but especially for parts of medium volume.

Chessboard: The exposure area is divided into chessboard squares with defined width, height and direction. The hatches within the "white" and "black" squares can be defined differently. Similarly, several options are available for determining the exposure sequence. This exposure method is especially useful for parts with larger volume or thick-walled areas.

Offset: The hatches are generated in the form of contour offsets with a defined distance from each other. The calculation of the contour offsets is based on the edge contour of the exposure area.

No hatch: The exposure area is not exposed or respectively no filling hatches are generated.

a.) Slice with chess board and offset hatch, b.) dialog page chess board

Above exposure methods can be assigned to each area of a part (volume, overhang, skin area). I.e. the exposure methods can be combined within a part. In addition, for each exposure method there are a variety of new and enhanced parameters and options available.

3. Extended exposure parameters:

All settings for a hatching style (eg "outer_hull_50") are now in a separate dialog. All settings for the exposure areas of a component (contour, volume, overhang, skin area) are listed here sorted hierarchically and so they provide a simplified access to the new and expanded exposure options.

In particular, this includes the avoidance of identical build paths (such as start and end points of contours or hatches) across multiple layers. For this purpose, at all exposure methods corresponding parameters and functions are available.

Start point dislocation: The start and end points of contours will be shifted for consecutive layers. The same applies to start and end points of contour offsets.

Angular increment: In the exposure methods chessboard, stripes and meander, the direction of hatching segments can be rotated from layer to layer with an angle specified value.

4. Display build parameters of FAB files:

In AutoFab, the FAB-layer-format is available for storing and archiving build jobs. It contains the layer geometry, the build paths and all material- and exposure settings of the build job.

With the new versions of autofab, it is now possible to check the parameters of the FAB build jobs afterwards. At this, for all parts of a build job the information about build paths and laser parameters are displayed.

Build job information with build stile and laser parameters

The new feature is available in the main group "build job", where it can be called instead of the previous model informations (menu view->information).

5. Optional module for material development:

The optimization of build parameters in the development and qualification of materials is an extensive process. At this, a lot of series of tests with defined parameter variations are built and checked. The setup of such series of tests is extremely time-consuming and circumstantial.

The optional module for material development provides almost fully automated generation of test series and parameter variations. Starting from a reference part, test series of defined rows and columns will be created. Then, variation rules can be created for the rows and columns, which vary a specific exposure parameter. All exposure parameters of the part can be accessed. Finally, the build paths for all parts of the test series are recalculated with the varied parameters automatically.

Step 1: Import iniutial FAB file


Step 2: Setup the test series


Step 3: Define rules for paramerter varation


Step 4: Edit parameter rules


Step 5: Automatic generation of test series

6. Various detail improvements and bug fixes:

Based on user suggestions, numerous other improvements have been made to program operation and reported bugs have been fixed.

Help us to further improve the program by informing us if you have problems using the software or if you discover bugs. To assist in locating bugs, AutoFab saves a memory image to your computer in event of a crash. The next time the program is started, you are informed that a memory dump has been created and you are asked to send this to us.

The memory dump ("Crash Dump") gives us information about possible causes for program crashes. This makes it significantly easier for us to identify and correct bugs, and you benefit with improved versions of the program.