News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Tesla fan website MunroLive published a teardown video of the new Tesla Model Y that was launched – quite softly – at the end of last March, in the midst of Coronavirus crisis-related supply chain issues. Possibly to address those issues, the video shows that the Model Y’s HVAC system integrates a partly 3D printed part.
The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand resumed vehicle production at its Wolfsburg plant on April 29th with the early shift beginning at 6:30 a.m. Initially, Golf production will recommence on a one-shift basis — with reduced capacity and longer cycle times. The Wolfburg plant also hosts VW’s 3D printing center and a number of 3D printers. It’s not yet clear if and how newly approved healthcare safety policies at VW will affect the adoption and installation of new production-ready systems at the automaker. The new regulations are expected to reduce contact between employees and thus drive an increase in production automation, but it still remains to be seen whether AM workflows will be able to accommodate this new demand.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has funded and launched POLYLINE, a collaborative project aimed at developing a next-generation production line for the automotive industry. The €10.7 million project specifically addresses the integration of additive manufacturing into plastic part production in the automotive industry to complement conventional production methods through high-throughput production line systems.
With a record market cap, Tesla is among the automakers that are best positioned to get through the COVID-19 crisis. The recent – possibly a bit uncalled for – tweets by its exuberant CEO do not seem to be getting in the way of the company’s climb to the top of the automotive world. And the reason is that its technology is – according to experts – six to ten years ahead of competitors (this used to be true for Apple, and look where it got). Tesla is not very open about its use of AM, however in the latest Q1 financial release, the company showed a very large, generatively designed metal part that will go into its new Model Y’s.
Collecting 1:8 models of cars and boats can be an expensive hobby however for many people the best model cars can be considered alongside fine watches and works of art. Amalgam Collections creates unrivaled examples of the world’s most iconic and luxurious cars at scale combining a vast array of manufacturing methods. For such unique, custom-made high-precision products 3D printing can provide an ideal solution. And it does.
For the past two years, officials and teams from Formula 1 have negotiated to come up with a new set of regulations for the 2021 racing season. Among the many updates made to the Formula 1 2021 technical regulations is the approval of two additive manufacturing metal powders developed by Colorado-based Elementum 3D, A6061-RAM1 and A2024-RAM2.
Remember the 3D printed Lamborghini story? So much has happened since, including Lamborghini swapping it for a real one and… a pandemic. However, Sterling Backus never stopped working on the project (actually can you think of anything better to do during a lockdown?) and now he’s taking the beast – whose official name is the 3D Printed Interceptor – out for a spin.
Superstrata, a Silicon Valley-based bicycle brand linked with composite AM service provider Arevo, just unveiled its flagship product: the world’s first made-to-measure 3D-printed e-bicycle with an impact-resistant unibody carbon fiber frame.
Motorsports, and Formula 1 in particular, is considered one of the driving segments for AM adoption. But one thing is the ability to rapidly produce lighter AM car parts and an entirely different thing, especially in F1, is the ability to actually use them. That’s because the regulations for additive manufacturing in Formula 1 are very (very) strict and sometimes block AM materials and applications.
LEHVOSS North America, a provider of thermoplastic 3D printing materials, has signed a formal agreement with Forward Engineering North America (FENA), a Michigan-based division of global engineering and consulting firm Forward Engineering GmbH that is focused on the use of fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials for the serial production of automotive structures.