News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
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.
Last April – in the midst of the first leg COVID-19 outbreak in the US, General Motors was tasked with building 30,000 COVID-19 ventilators for the national stockpile for a total of $489.4 million, the first contract under the Defense Production Act invoked by the US President Donal Trump.
The BMW Group has now officially opened and further consolidated its new BMW Additive Manufacturing Campus. The new center brings together the production of prototype and series parts under one roof, along with research into new 3D printing technologies, and associate training for the global rollout of toolless production. The campus, which came at an investment of €15 million, will allow the BMW Group to develop its position as a technology leader in the utilization of additive manufacturing in the automotive industry.
After Elementum’s own aluminum alloys, APWORKS‘s Scalmalloy aluminum alloy has now also been officially approved by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and added to the Formula 1 regulation as one of the additive metal materials. Given that APWORKS is based in Germany it seems safe to assume that the current world champion Mercedes team will be making use of the material for its seemingly unbeatable vehicle. Mercedes F1 has been a major adopter of AM for rapid car development throughout its tenure.
Since significantly expanding its 3D printing capacity – by installing 17 production-grade Stratasys systems – at the end of 2019, automotive giant GM has transformed many of its production lines, leveraging the technology for faster and most efficient tooling and more. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology has come particularly in handy, helping the company to transition towards the production of ventilators.
With its propensity for custom, one-off designs, it is no wonder that 3D technologies like scanning and 3D printing have been eagerly adopted by automotive restoration professionals. The technologies have literally given them the tools to bring vintage and rare cars back to their former glory, not just in look, but often also in terms of performance. Whether used to reproduce an obsolete component for a vintage model or to replicate the entire car body, 3D printing is now an intrinsic part of automotive restoration projects. Here are a few of our favorite examples from over the years that demonstrate the many ways 3D printing and 3D technologies can be used to rev up old cars.
Eagle, a British restorer of the Jaguar E-Type car, can achieve the bespoke, low-volume production it needs thanks to a partnership with Graphite Additive Manufacturing Ltd., an England-based 3D printing service. More specifically, Graphite Additive Manufacturing provides Eagle with custom 3D printed parts made using the HP Jet Fusion 4200 system.
We may just have to add this case study to our roundup of favorite 3D automotive restoration projects. Pittsburgh-based HV3DWorks LLC, a company specializing in the restoration and customization of classic cars, has leveraged ExOne’s binder jetting 3D printing technology to help restore a vintage Ferrari from 1969. The technology enabled the restoration team to reproduce a critical carburetor component for the Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 V-12 engine.