Free course · 50 lessons · 9 chapters
Large Format AM, from the pellet up.
Why printing big from pellets pays, what happens inside the extruder and the bead, why every layer has a deadline, how fibre, warp and the machine shape the part, and how printed tools are made to work. Every lesson runs a simulation, shows the maths, and stops to ask you a question.
Our own curriculum, built by the engineers behind the AddX printing cell. The research it rests on is listed as further reading.
How every lesson works
Watch, predict, check.
One idea per lesson, built from animation, simulation and our own cells. No stock footage, no slides read aloud.
A simulation runs while the maths builds beside it, like a bead laid down: flow = width × height × speed.
Every lesson pauses to ask what you think happens next, then shows you.
A short knowledge check at the end of each chapter, drawn from the lessons.
Pass all nine chapter checks for a certificate with a verifiable serial.
Curriculum
Nine chapters, one bead.
Where does the plastic go, and how hot is it when it lands? Every chapter follows it one step further. Open a chapter for its overview and lessons.
Free learner sign-up
Save your progress.
Keep your place across devices, get the chapter checks and your certificate when they launch, and hear when new courses open: filament winding has started, and large-format 3D printing is next. No password. Nothing is gated: every lesson stays free.
Further reading
The lessons explain it. These papers go deeper.
The course is our own. When you want the measurements behind a lesson, start with these.
- The economics of Big Area Additive Manufacturing
Post et al. · Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, 2016 - Additively manufactured carbon fibre-reinforced composites: state of the art and perspective
van de Werken et al. · Composites Part A, 2020
Feedback
Tell us what to fix.
Every lesson page has its own feedback box. This one is for the course as a whole.
Questions
Before you start.
Is it free?
Yes. Every lesson is free, with no account. Chapter checks and a certificate are coming soon.
Who made this?
Addcomposites, the company behind the AddX large format printing cell. The curriculum, simulations and footage are our own. Where a number rests on an assumption, the video says so.
Do I need to read the papers?
No. Each lesson stands on its own. The papers under Further reading have the measurements if you want them.
What background do I need?
High-school maths is enough to follow: areas, rates and a little heat.