August 31, 2021
3D Printing Service in the Automotive Industry - Makenica
One of the biggest beneficiaries of 3D Printing services, however, is the automotive industry, in which car manufacturers are using 3D printing online to prototype components
Additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing service, is beginning to make its mark on a wide range of industries, from medical device manufacturing to aerospace.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of 3D Printing services in India, however, is the automotive industry, in which car manufacturers are using 3D printing online to prototype components, create libraries of spare and customized parts and even create end-use parts for roadworthy vehicles.
To demonstrate how online 3D printing services can be used to great effect in the automotive industry, we’re going to look at five distinct ways that additive manufacturing is changing the world of cars.
- 3D printed cars
We’ll start with what is clearly the most drastic application of affordable 3D Printing services in the automotive industry: 3D printing an entire car. (Well, all of it except critical parts like the tires, steering system, brakes and engine.)
While 3D printing in India is generally suited to specific materials and applications, that hasn’t stopped adventurous companies like Arizona-based Local Motors from attempting to create an entire car body using additive manufacturing technologies.
Back in 2014, Local Motors introduced its first 3D printed electric car to the world. It was named “Strati” and could be 3D printed in less than a day using the giant BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) 3D printer developed by Cincinnati Incorporated and operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Not many companies have followed Local Motors’ lead in attempting to design a car whose entire body can be 3D printed, but the speed of manufacturing demonstrated by the Arizona company has given automakers food for thought.
- Rapid prototyping of parts
Although many major 3D printing companies now sell their machines as production tools, additive manufacturing is still seen by many as a prototyping technology. Why? Well, it’s fast, only uses a small amount of material and allows for the creation of complex geometries.
Seeking to capitalize on those advantages, several automotive companies use 3D Printing service in India to prototype new components, often 3D printing a handful of iterations to see what works and what doesn’t.
In fact, the automotive industry is generally seen as one of the earliest adopters of 3D printing online as a rapid prototyping tool, with major names like Ford and BMW picking up additive manufacturing systems back in the 1990s in order to develop concepts at the pre-manufacturing stage.
- Reduced environmental impact
Another contemporary specialist in the production of 3D printed vehicles is California-based Divergent Technologies. Unlike Local Motors, however, Divergent isn’t attempting to 3D print an entire car.
Divergent founder Kevin Czinger established his company not just to create 3D printed vehicles, but to reshape the automotive product cycle. His philosophy centers around the use of local “microfactories” – instead of large production facilities – in which automakers can reduce both the cost and environmental impact of car production by 3D printing metal structural components for their cars.
“The time has come for a new model of decentralized car production that fosters pioneering car designs and lowers costs while alleviating environmental damage,” Czinger said last year.
Divergent’s signature vehicle, the Blade supercar, weighs just 630 kg (1,389 lb), which contributes to its incredible acceleration: the 3D printed car can go from 0-97 km/h (0-60 mph) in just 2.2 seconds.
- On-demand replacements
One of the most important uses of online 3D Printing in India(across all industries) is its ability to quickly fabricate replacement parts for complex systems – either to update them or to fix them when they need repairing.
By 3D printing these replacement parts on demand rather than keeping a large inventory of spare parts, manufacturers can save huge amounts of money, since they only make parts as and when required and do not need to keep large warehouses for inventory.
The practice of 3D printing replacement parts on demand is becoming more and more commonplace within the automotive industry, as was recently demonstrated by Mercedes-Benz Trucks, which is now 3D printing replacement parts for its older vehicles using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) 3D printing systems.
- Formula 1 advancements
Affordable 3D Printing services are playing a huge role in the development and maintenance of consumer vehicles, but it is also becoming more prominent in motorsports – including on the biggest stage of all: Formula 1.
British racing team McLaren, for example, uses 3D printing in several ways. At its headquarters in England, McLaren uses FDM and PolyJet 3D printers to create prototype parts from materials such as carbon fibre reinforced nylon and ABS, testing them for performance before reaching any decision on a finished part.
McLaren has even been known to use a 3D printer during races, keeping a Stratasys machine trackside to quickly fabricate small parts. A gimmick perhaps, but a sure sign that additive manufacturing is racing its way into the fast lane.
Makenica, an on-demand manufacturing specialist with experience in 3D printing service and automotive prototyping, is well-placed to offer assistance on additive manufacturing automotive projects, as well as automotive prototyping via other technologies such as aluminium machining and injection molding.
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3D printing car parts is a potential boon to auto industry
Car manufacturers and designers are already familiar with online 3D printing in India because they’ve been using it for prototyping for decades. But will the technology ever be a practical way to mass-manufacture vehicles?
For drivers, perhaps the ultimate sci-fi 3D printing dream would be to view a few cars on a screen, choose one, and tweak the design. Maybe you want more legroom or a larger engine, or add a few tastefully positioned shark fins. When you’re satisfied, the system checks your design for problems, your personalized car is printed at your local 3D printing service, and it delivers itself to you later the same day.
Manufacturers, understandably, have a more practical view of online 3D printing’s current promise. As the scale of a production run is reduced, the production cost per unit of 3D Printing companies eventually becomes cheaper than traditional mass manufacturing, because there’s no need to build specialized tools, molds, and so on. However, at the current early stage of the technology, the actual cost per unit is still rather expensive for most use cases.
Nevertheless, 3D printing companies in Bangalore could soon allow manufacturers to target smaller niche markets than current manufacturing methods, including niches based on design, functionality and performance. And eventually, 3D printing service in India might permit niche “markets” that consist of only one person-who likes shark fins.
Reshaping the auto industry
3D printing in India also promises to reshape the auto industry in other ways, some of which could be disruptive for traditional business models. On-demand manufacturing of individual vehicle parts reduces inventory and storage costs, smooths out manufacturing cycles, and may reduce transport costs by moving production facilities closer to end users.
Those production facilities could also be smaller, because a single 3D printer could produce a variety of components for different vehicles, without retooling. Small-scale, just-in-time manufacturing may prolong vehicle life and reduce environmental waste, by allowing production of replacement parts to continue indefinitely.
Those product pipeline changes are still very much in the future, however. Current 3D printing online tends to be slow, requiring minutes or hours, unlike injection molding, or stamping and cutting a metal sheet, which takes a few seconds.
3D printing service has also tended to focus on making small components, but companies developing automotive manufacturing techniques, such as Local Motors (in cooperation with Cincinnati Inc.) and Stratasys, are already working with machines large enough to print an entire car.
Rethinking design, for new materials
To make the most of 3D printing quote, designers will need to rethink how they work with materials. Some materials traditionally used in vehicles may never be suitable for 3D printing services. Meanwhile, some materials that are ideal for current 3D printing techniques are not suitable for automotive use, for reasons of appearance, durability, or safety.
Yet, 3D printing companies offer new opportunities for materials that are difficult to handle with traditional techniques. For example, cheap and lightweight aluminium can be laser sintered into complex, seamless shapes that offer attractive new possibilities for car styling. 3D print online offers designers’ new freedom in shaping components, so they can improve strength while reducing weight, by printing precisely designed parts.
With current online 3D printing technology, making 100% of a vehicle probably isn’t possible, nor is it practical. However, 3D printing of vehicle bodies and numerous smaller components is already happening, for small-scale test projects. For example, the LA Times recently reported that Disney World is considering deploying visitor shuttle vehicles from companies including Local Motors.
The latter company’s Olli autonomous electric shuttle has a body and chassis which is largely 3D printed, and it’s being trailed on public roads. (Mouser is cooperating with Local Motors on a project that combines the Strati 3D-printed electric car with a self-launched semi-autonomous drone camera.)
While 3D printers aren’t building many cars yet, they are making the machines that make cars. Responding rapidly to changing demands and new designs, a 3D printer can quickly produce new tools, jigs, and fixtures, which are then used in more conventional production processes to make thousands of vehicle parts.
What’s next for automotive 3D printing service?
During the next few years, large manufacturers will likely introduce a hybrid process combining some 3D printing with traditional manufacturing techniques. As time goes by, the vehicle’s 3D-printed proportion will increase, as the technology improves and designers figure out how to make the best use of it.
3D printing in India seems particularly suited for manufacturing the cars’ cosmetic features, such as body panels and interior features. These features allow wide variability and have greater potential for customer input, compared to functional components such as engine parts.
So, offering customers a semi-personalized vehicle built around a standard mass-produced chassis seems achievable. Car manufacturers like Ford are already running preliminary trials of such processes.
Extreme customization raises issues of safety, fuel economy, and road worthiness. Giving end-user customization the same legal status as aftermarket modifications could be a solution. So, if you do add those shark fins to your car, you might have to sign a waiver absolving the manufacturer of responsibility.