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ABS
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a thermoplastic polymer commonly used in 3D printing applications, especially for prototypes due to its relatively low cost, stiffness and impact resistance.
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Acoustics
Acoustics is the branch of physics concerned with the properties of sound. Acoustics can be measured by NVH, an industry term that stands for noise, vibration, and harshness.
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Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a process to create, layer by layer, a physical object as a three-dimensional part using a variety of materials that include plastics, metals, ceramics and more. It is widely used in medical, aerospace and for prototyping applications, and continues to expand into many other industries.
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Alumide
A mix of aluminum and polyamide powder that provides a shiny look to plastic parts.
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APDRC
The Advanced Product Development Resource Center (APDRC) is a repository of information to help design engineering teams capitalize on digital disruption through the use of advanced computing, design, simulation and visualization technologies.
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APU
An accelerated processing unit (APU) combines a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU) on the same die. This improves data transfer rates and reduces power consumption.
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Batteries
Batteries are energy storage systems that are key factors in the electrical powertrain design.
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Big Data
Big Data is a catch-all term to describe data sets large enough to be analyzed via computer algorithms in order to discover patterns or trends that can be used to enhance human decision-making or automatically cause an automated action to take place.
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Biomimicry
Biomimicry is the design and production of materials, structures and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes.
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Bionics
Bionics is the study of mechanical systems that function like living organisms or parts of living organisms.
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Blockchain
Blockchain is fundamentally a decentralized technology for storing data. It is a shared immutable ledger for recording a history of transactions.
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Body in White
Actions related to the manufacturing of a vehicle’s body before it is moved to the paint shop stage are performed in a welding space. It’s essentially an assembly that includes panels and a frame that are comprised of steel or aluminum sheets or composites
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Build Envelope
In 3D printing, the maximum physical size of a print that can be produced by a specific 3D printer or additive manufacturing system.
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CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is used by engineers, architects, artists and others to create precise drawings or technical illustrations. CAD software can be used to create two- or three-dimensional models.
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CAM
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) uses computer software and hardware to automate manufacturing processes. CAM is often used in conjunction with computer-aided design (CAD).
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CFD
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is the use of applied mathematics, physics and computational software to visualize how a gas or liquid flows around or interacts with an object. It is based on principles that describe how velocity, pressure, temperature, and density of a moving fluid interact.
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Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, like servers, storage, databases, networking and software, over the Internet or the cloud.
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Cluster Computing
Cluster computing technology links together multiple servers to work as one logical unit for high-performance applications like simulation and analysis.
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Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE)
Computer-aided engineering (CAE) describes utilization of a computer and its software for the purposes of designing, analyzing and generating products and methods. Broadly defined, CAE incorporates both CAD (computer-aided design) and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) in order to assist in engineering analysis processes.
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Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM)
A coordinate measurement machine (CMM) typically uses probes to sense the position of a point in space, measuring it based on its distance from a three-dimensional reference position. CMMs are often used to ensure a part or assembly falls within a specified range (tolerance) of the design intent. The probe gathers the points through a human operator or via automation through a process called direct computer control (DCC). The DCC CMMs can assess identical objects over and over through programming.
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CPU
The central processing unit (CPU) is the "brains" of the computer where most calculations take place.
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Curing
The process of hardening a liquid or material to produce the final form.
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Degrees of Freedom
Used in engineering to describe the number of parameters required to define the motion of a dynamic system, or the number of ways a dynamic system can move, without violating constraints imposed on it. In statistics, the number of values in a calculation that are free to vary.
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Digital Thread
Digital thread refers to the sharing of product lifecycle data up and down the extended supply chain via a communication framework that allows various stakeholders to access data relevant to their responsibilities on demand.
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DWG
A file format for that stands for “drawings,” which was developed by Mike Riddle in the 1970s and has become the most widely used format for CAD drawings due, in large part, to Autodesk using it as the basis for AutoCAD in 1982 and updating it numerous times since. Whenever a user inputs data in a CAD drawing, DWG houses all that data, which may include 2D and 3D designs, geometric information and photographs.
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EDA
Electronic design automation (EDA), also known as electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), refers to software used to design and simulate electronics—such as integrated circuits (ICs) and printed circuit boards (PCBs).
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Edge Computing
This type of computing, often referred to in association with the industrial internet of things (IIoT), is performed at or close to data’s origination point, removing the need for remote computers – often accessed via the cloud – to perform the work.
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FEA
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a method for predicting how a product reacts to real-world forces, vibration, heat, fluid flow, and other physical effects.
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Finite Element Method (FEM)
A means to approximate partial differential equation (PDE) discretizations (discrete counterparts transferred – with some amount of error – from continuous functions, models, variables and equations) with numerical model equations in order to break down large problems into simpler finite elements that can be solved via numerical methods.
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FIRST
FIRST stands for 'For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.' It is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 to inspire students to join and continue into engineering and technology fields.
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Fluid Dynamics
Fluid dynamics, one branch of fluid mechanics, entails study of fluids, such as liquid, gas and plasma, and the impact of outside forces (e.g., movement) upon fluids. This offshoot of applied science focuses on liquid and gas movement. It involves the interaction of fluids as they are exposed to one another.
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Fluid Mechanics
Fluid mechanics is a physics-related science that involves applying laws of force and motion to fluids (gases and liquids), and fluid’s subsequent reaction. Fluid mechanics comprises two subcategories: fluid statics (hydrostatics), which is the study of fluids in a rest phase; and fluid dynamics, which is study of fluids that are moving.
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G-Code
File format used by 3D printers and CNC (computer numerically controlled) machines to store and interpret data. It contains all the instructions for the machine to build the object.
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GPU
The graphics processing unit (GPU) is a supplemental processor, also known as a graphics accelerator, that is dedicated to speeding up video and graphics intensive processes.
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Graphene
Graphene is a one atom thick honeycombed layer of carbon atoms that has been called the lightest and strongest known material as well as the best conductor of electricity. As such, its potential applications are many, but production processes need to advance for them to be realized.
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Hooke’s Law
Named after 17th-century physicist, philosopher and architect Robert Hooke, it states that the force needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance is proportional to that distance.
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Instrumentation
In engineering, the devices used to measure and collect data and/or control test and manufacturing environments, such as sensors, recorders, transmitters, displays and control systems. Generally, any device used to measure, record and/or indicate a physical phenomenon, such as a speedometer, smoke alarm or motion detector.
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IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network comprised of physical objects capable of gathering and sharing electronic information through the Internet.
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JT
An open 3D model format developed by Siemens PLM software that makes it possible to view and share product information throughout the product lifecycle. It is intended to enhance collaboration by enabling manufacturers to move 3D product data among the computer-aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) software applications supporting the standard.
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Layer Resolution
The thickness of one layer of a 3D print.
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Lightweighting
In design engineering, lightweighting refers to removing mass or weight from a physical product in the design stage, often via topology optimization that removes unneeded mass in structural elements or by using internal lattice structures to replace solids.
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Machine Learning
In general, machine learning refers to machines that mirror and assume human behavioral traits.
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Maxwell’s Equations
Named after physicist and mathematician James Maxwell (June 13, 1831-Nov. 5, 1879), the set of equations describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of the fields.
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Memristor
A contraction of the words memory and resistor, a memristor is an electrical component that regulates the flow of electrical current in a circuit and remembers the amount of charge that flowed through it without needing power to retain that memory.
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Meshing
In engineering, meshing refers to using computer software to generate polygons or polyhedrals that connect in a series of lines and points to approximates a digital model's geometry. Meshing is often performed in order to divide the model into cells in order to conduct a simulation analysis or render a digital model.
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Metal 3D Printing
Various additive manufacturing/3D printing processes use metal to create objects layer by layer. These include direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and select laser melting (SLM) that use lasers to sinter or melt metal powders, methods that shoot metal particles at high speeds to build up surfaces, as well as newer extrusion-based metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes that hold the metal powder in plastics until being melted and fused into a part.
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Moore’s Law
Moore's Law is based on the prediction that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double approximately every year (or up to 18 months). Gordon Moore, one of Intel's founders and an engineer, first observed this law in action in 1965, writing about his observation in an issue of Electronics magazine. Supporting this observation is the fact that the transistor’s size continues to shrink over time.
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Multibody System
In engineering, a multibody system consists of interconnected rigid or flexible bodies. How the bodies link to and affect one another can be analyzed via various software applications that simulate those movement and force dynamics
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Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
The concurrent use of methods from different fields of engineering to solve design problems
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Multiphysics
Multiphysics simulations use computers and software to couple multiple physical phenomena in order to predict or validate the real-world outcome. For example, the heat produced by a computer processor coupled with the airflow inside the computer case and the acoustics of the fans.
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Multithreading
In computing, multithreaded describes a central processing unit (CPU), core or cores that can perform multiple processes (threads) concurrently.
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NASTRAN
NASA STRucture ANalysis (NASTRAN) is a finite element analysis (FEA) program that was developed for NASA by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in the late 1960s. NASTRAN was released to the public in 1971 by NASA's Office of Technology Utilization.
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Navier-Stokes
The Navier-Stokes equations apply to Newton's second law of motion for fluids (liquids and gases; f = ma), because this type of equation essentially describe fluid motion.
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OBJ
OBJ is a type of geometry definition file format, with the extension, .OBJ. It’s typically created by computer-aided design software as a final result of the 3D modeling procedure. Wavefront Technologies was the pioneering developer of this common, open file format, when it first created .OBJ for its animation software. Many graphics software makers have embraced .OBJ as an industry standard file format. An array of 3D image editing software systems can export and open this 3d image file type. The .OBJ file format has built into it a 3D object that contains 3D coordinates, polygonal faces and texture maps, for examples.
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Ohm’s Law
A law describing the relationship between resistance, current, and voltage – specifically that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points.
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PAEK
Polyaryletherketone (PAEK) is a group of thermoplastics used for 3D printing applications that require high temperature stability, strength and chemical resistance.
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Parametric Modeling
In design engineering, parametric modeling refers to the use of feature-based, solid and surface modeling software tools to affect a design using real-world attributes. Changes to a model's attributes are interlinked via a history tree to maintain a relationship among them, which allows one attribute change to affect the attributes dependent on it. For example, changing the radius on the corner of a cell phone's outer shell could change the radius of the screen's corner as well. Parametric modeling is often contrasted with direct modeling, which allows designers to interact with the geometry of the digital model by pushing, pulling or twisting it to change its attributes.
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PBT
Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) is a thermoplastic in the polyester family that is resistant to solvents, stains and heat.
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PEEK
Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is an organic thermoplastic polymer in the PAEK family.
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PEI
Polyetherimide (PEI) is a thermoplastic resin with a high strength-to-weight ratio that is inherently flame retardant.
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PETG
Glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a thermoplastic in the polyester family that is durable and flexible; transparency is an option.
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Photopolymers
Plastic resins that change properties when exposed to light.
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PLM
PLM or Product Lifecycle Management is a process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, design and manufacture, service, and disposal or recycling.
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PMMA
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is an acrylic plastic; often used for investment casting applications.
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Polyamide
Polyamide (PA) is a strong material (often nylon) used in laser sintering. It is less brittle than PLA and ABS.
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Polycarbonate
Polycarbonate (PC) is a widely used industrial thermoplastic that is often used in tooling and fixtures. It can withstand functional testing and is often used for complex 3D prints.
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Polylactic Acid
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a bioplastic used for 3D models and DIY prototyping. It is less flexible than acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
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Polypropylene
Polypropylene (PP) is a tough, flexible thermoplastic polymer; suitable for snap-fit parts.
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Polystyrene
Polystyrene is a clear thermoplastic that can be used for 3D printed molds requiring fine details.
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Powder Bed Fusion
A generic term for any process that adheres powder together to build a 3D object; often via lasers. These processes include selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), electron beam melting (EBM), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and more.
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PPS
Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is a thermoplastic polymer with high chemical and thermal resistance.
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Print Bed
The surface of the 3D printer where the part is formed. It is also referred to as a bed or build plate.
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PVA
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is often used as a support material in 3D printing to buttress steep angles and overhangs, providing a surface to deposit layers upon. Because it is water-soluble, it can be washed away to leave the 3D printed object.
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Quantum Computing
Unlike traditional binary computing that uses bits in either a 0 or 1 state, quantum computing uses quantum bits, which can be in superpositions (states can be added together to form a valid state). Quantum computers would, theoretically, be able to efficiently solve problems that are not practically feasible on current, binary-based computers.
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Refractory Metals
A group of metals known for their resistance to high heat, corrosion and wear.
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Retraction
In filament extrusion-based 3D printing, retraction refers to the process of pulling the filament back from the hot end during printing.
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Reverse Engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of creating the design and engineering specifications for a product based on an existing physical product. Technologies such as 3D scanning and computer-aided design (CAD) software are often used to aid in this process.
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Skirt
In 3D printing, a thin bounding line a certain distance from the object edge that ensures the design will fit on the print bed.
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Slice
In 3D printing, a single layer of a 3D printed model.
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SOC
A system-on-a-chip (SoC) is a microchip with the necessary electronic circuits to support a given system on a single integrated circuit. Typical uses for SoC include smartphones and wearable computers.
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STEP
CAD file format, STEP, stands for Standard for The Exchange of Product model data. STEP is a 3D model file that is built in an ISO Standard Exchange format. Often it is the format employed when users who are running different CAD software programs want to exchange 3D models. Housed within the file is three-dimensional data that is identifiable by a variety of software systems. STEP file format is modular in nature, enabling developers to revise it according to their own specs. This file format dates back to 1984, as a follow-up response to Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES). The first STEP standard wasn’t actually released until 1994, due to the file format’s complexities. STEP is revised frequently. Its extensions include .step, .stp, .stpz, .ste or .p21.
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Stereolithography
Stereolithography apparatus (SLA), is a type of 3D printer that uses stereolithography to convert liquid plastic into solid 3D objects.
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STL
Stereolithography (STL) is a file format used to describe the surface geometry of a 3D object, often in preparation for 3D printing that object.
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Strain
In engineering, strain is a system's reaction to a stress applied to it. It entails an alteration in a shape or size due to forces acting upon it, which is known as deformation. For example, a beam will strain when exposed to stress. In mathematical terms, strain is extension per unit length
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Stress
In engineering, stress is the loading force being used on a portion of an object’s area that eventually leads to deformation. In mathematical terms, stress is the force per unit area of material.
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Subtractive Manufacturing
Subtractive manufacturing is a process where an object is produced by removing unnecessary materials from a stock to create the desired geometry. Machining, the long-established standard for mass production and manufacturing, falls into the subtractive category.
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System Modeling
System modeling refers to the used of computer-aided design (CAD) software to create digital representations of parts that form a larger whole, such as systems of components in an automobile or airplane.
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Thermoplastic
Any plastic that can be transitioned to a molten form through heat and then solidified by cooling. Often used in 3D printing.
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Topology Optimization
A method, often automated by simulation or design software, to find the optimal distribution of material given user-specified goals and constraints. One of those goals in often to remove weight from the part. The results are often organic, branch-like structures that may be difficult to manufacture via traditional subtractive processes, which is why topology optimization is sometimes paired with additive manufacturing/3D printing
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Torque
In physics, torque is a rotational force. When force is applied to something and that object starts to rotate, or force is applied to halt the rotation, torque is produced.
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TPE
Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a plastic and rubber copolymer that provides flexibility and elasticity.
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T-spline
Refers to both a method of surface modeling in which a row of control points terminate in a T shape and a company founded to develop the concept as plug-ins for SOLIDWORKS and Rhino design software. T-Splines Inc. was acquired by Autodesk in 2004. Autodesk discontinued the plug-in for SOLIDWORKS in 2014 and discontinued the plug-in for Rhino in 2017.
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von Mises Stress
Named after Richard Edler von Mises (April 19, 1883-July 14, 1953), is an empirical process used to predict yielding of ductile metals under complex loading.
