Aibuild Launches Aibuild FETS for Additive Manufacturing: The World's Fastest Finite Element Thermomechanical Simulation That’s Up to 10,000× Faster Than Existing Solutions.

Aibuild, the manufacturing software company, announced the launch of Aibuild FETS, a finite element thermomechanical simulation tool that runs up to 10,000 times faster than any comparable solution on the market.

Aibuild FETS supports the full breadth of today’s most widely used additive manufacturing processes including Directed Energy Deposition (DED), Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing (AFSD), Fused Granulate Fabrication (FGF), and Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), covering both metals and thermoplastics. Critically, it delivers simulation across six key output types during the AM build process: thermal distribution, thermomechanical, distortion, residual stress, interlayer bonding analysis, including poor adhesion plus sagging/slumping, and crack prediction from simulated stress.

For engineering teams, this is simulation that previously required hours or even days of computation and demanded specialist computers and dedicated workflows that can now return accurate results in less time. Engineers can identify thermal risk, predict distortion, understand residual stress distribution, and optimise through rapid iteration, all before a single layer is deposited.

“We kept hearing the same thing from engineers. I know simulation is the right thing to do, but I just can’t wait three days for an answer. And honestly, that’s before you even factor in the cost of getting it wrong. A failed build is often thousands of dollars in material, machine time and energy, and hours of someone’s time you can’t get back. Aibuild FETS came out of wanting to fix that. It’s not just process parameters either, it’s the whole thing. The path the tool takes, the thermal behaviour, the entire build strategy. Engineers can now just know whether a part will print successfully, in seconds, before any of that money is on the line.” Guy Brown CSO at Aibuild.

GPU powered and validated by the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), one of the US aerospace industry’s most respected independent testing and validation bodies, Aibuild FETS carries the accuracy credentials to match its speed claims. Results are fully consistent with industry-validated finite element simulation, meaning engineering teams gain speed without sacrificing the rigour their processes demand.

“As a research institute serving the aerospace industry, NIAR’s mission is to validate and de-risk advanced manufacturing technologies before they reach production floors. Thermal control has been one of the biggest challenges holding back metal additive at industrial scale. This foundation means we’re well positioned to benefit from upcoming AI enhancements that Aibuild is developing. For the aerospace manufacturers we work with, this represents a validated path forward: they can adopt large-format metal AM with the thermal process control they need, and the platform will keep getting faster as AI capabilities come online.” Jeswin J. Chankaramangalam, Program Director, NIAR

Aibuild FETS is GPU powered, CAM agnostic and requires no specialist hardware, allowing it to integrate directly into existing workflows across a wide range of manufacturing environments. Easy calibration means teams are up and running quickly, without lengthy onboarding or specialist training.