News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
To fully reap the benefits of additive manufacturing technologies for part production, it is often necessary to go back to the drawing board to reengineer the part in question and optimize its structure for AM. Fortunately, with state-of-the-art software programs such as ParaMatters’ CogniCAD, redesigning a part for AM doesn’t necessarily entail going back to the literal drawing board.
Within the automotive industry, there are countless ways that 3D printing has been adopted, from 3D printed metal replacement parts, to full-colour prototypes, to custom detailing. Recently, Corona, California-based Design Infini highlighted another automotive application for additive manufacturing: wheel design.
German auto manufacturer Audi has announced that its Pre-Series Center and Plastics 3D Printing Center in Ingolstadt, Germany have adopted Stratasys’ J750 full-colour, multi-material 3D printer for producing faithful prototypes and accelerating the design verification process.
Arguably one of the most cutting-edge niches of the additive manufacturing sector is the development of dynamic and changing printed structures. Sometimes referred to as 4D printing, we’ve seen researchers 3D print self-folding structures and other smart, shapeshifting materials. A recent development coming out of MIT’s Self-Assembly Laboratory has demonstrated a new type of dynamic printing which integrates pneumatics for inflatable 3D printed objects.
From Star Wars to the Royal Wedding, it seems like cars are the new hottest trend in promotional merchandising. MINI, the British automotive company now owned by BMW, recently unveiled a custom-designed MINI Hatch inspired by the much-hyped wedding of Suits actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Why do we care? Well, the Royal Wedding car features some custom 3D printed accents.
Some of today’s brightest engineers got their start designing race cars for Formula Student competitions, which is why our attention is always piqued when new case studies on the topic emerge. The most recent story is from Barcelona-based ETSEIB Motorsport, one of the most experienced Formula Student teams, which turned to local 3D printer manufacturer, BCN3D Technologies, for assistance on its latest race car model.
In a galaxy not so far away—well, Hollywood—Solo: A Star Wars Story made its screen debut last week. Not only did the world premiere event bring together high profile stars from the sci-fi franchise, but one of Star Wars’ most iconic spaceships also made an appearance, courtesy of automotive company Nissan.
3D Platform (3DP), a global leader in manufacturing large-format, industrial-strength 3D printers, continues to make stops and add new events to its much anticipated 3DP Roadshow Van Tour.
A team of students from the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany was racing to victory thanks in part to additive manufacturing company EnvisionTEC. Acting as a sponsor, EnvisionTEC provided support and 3D printing expertise to the German students in the development of an electric race car.
In the automotive manufacturing industry, 3D printing technologies are drastically impacting prototyping processes and turnaround times. However, benefiting from additive technologies isn’t quite as simple as installing printers into a workflow. As Hyundai Motor Company recently demonstrated, in order to fully exploit the advantages of 3D printing—including increased automation and production efficiency—it required software tools offered by AM giant Materialise.