GARETH T

Just thinking has anyone 3d printed and car parts yet? I think an inlet manifold would lend itself perfect to be printed.

St3V3_C

How heat resistant is this stuff?

From the little I know, I don't think it's durable enough at the moment.

Only time though

STAFFY OWNER

Suppose it all depends on how strong the parts are once printed and how resistant they are to relatively high temperatures.

STAFFY OWNER

Shit, your reply beat me to it lol.

GARETH T

I don't think 60-70 degrees wouldnt be s problem for it and as for durability is very good and honestly don't think it would be a problem. I'm going to the mac show this year to learn more about 3d machines

markk

iTrader: (2)

Ive been looking at all sorts of components made in 3d print. The materials are really coming into their own now.

I was inspecting a pair of girls Klarke shoes the other day, very cool, very well made too.

I have seen tools made in 3d print too, like adjustable spanners that adjust with no assembly.

lacey

They have 3d printed a gun and fired it , and they are already printing stuff for the raf

stevieturbo

I think a better use would be the printing of parts in order to make a mould for casting them.

A printed item probably wouldnt be ideal or robust enough for an engine environment. But from a design and prototype point of view...surely using those methods to facilitate cast alloy parts, turbo manifolds etc etc would be ideal.

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

I have never looked into it but a guy at work was on about it the other week. How exactly does it work? Can you make litterally anything?

zippyobrien

iTrader: (2)

We 3d print 'sintered ' components at work. As strong and durable as metal. Hugely expensive.

Mark V8

iTrader: (2)

Looks expensive for metal parts, but bloody clever

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

Cool! Thats clever stuff ll. who the hell thought of that!

I work for bosch and they jave developed some laser tech and can engrave the map of the world on the head of a pin lol.
Think they are using it for precise diesel injectors

But that is nothing to do with what i do.

Darren

My company currently deals with a supplier in France who have a patented material that they 3D print and Sinter that is used in all Renault F1 engines so I guess temperature is not an issue

stevieturbo

Pretty amazing shit.

stu21t

Thinking in the past....
It would be ideal to scan/copy obsolete car parts and reproduce them.
Eg. Renault 5 front grilles are not made by renault anymore and second hand they sell for over Ł200
Plus mint ones are running out meaning you have to settle for a damaged one.
Trying to mould them isn't easy due to the intricacy of them so this could be great.

stevieturbo

The same came up on Counts Customs the other day regarding a set of tail lights. So people are already doing it in the US
Of course he opted for original parts even at a silly price. But he had the option of 3D printed replacements

Question is how much are very low volume pieces via 3D ?

nixon_2wd

Hi,
I have printed, or sintered as its called, 2 sets of runners and a roller barrel throttle body in aluminum for our formula student cars at the uni. The strength is great, actually much stronger than cast aluminum. These sintering machines are getting better and better every year, especially resolution wise. Currently the surface finish is a bit rough, so the parts need a lot of hand finishing. There are also different sintering methods to build up parts, with and without so-called support structure, and some are better than others.

The main problem with sintering parts is the need for purging the chamber with pressurized nitrogen to keep contaminants out. This is insanely expensive as most of it is just dumped to the atmosphere, however systems for recirculating the nitrogen are being developed.

The expense is mostly governed by the hight of the parts as the laser only takes seconds, a new super thin layer of metal powder has to be applied which is what takes a long time for every layer. I recall a set of 4 runners cost 3000 pounds just covering the nitrogen.

De4n0

Amazing!

GARETH T

To be honest I was thinking plastic.
I really want one in work so I can experiment

nixon_2wd

We have plastic printers aswell, and Ive used them mainly for prototyping and proof of concept. At the highest resolution I believe it could work for an inlet manifold.

nthorpey

Has been done many times for the inlet manifold and other parts for testing purposes. Have a look at the link below for an example.

Main restrictions with domestic 3D printing is currently the material is ABS or PLA which as mentioned above is not ideal for most strucural, elevated temperature environments. remember that most 3D printers are just like a hot glue gun on a print head. It prints 3D models in layers like a massive onion skin.
The melt temp is releativly low to create fast, cheap prints. the working envelope of domestic printers is also small and print speed currently very slow.

Proper addative manufacturing machines work at mush higher speeds and use laser light to cure resins to create parts at higher cost.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...72/3DInlet.pdf

GARETH T

Great link.

Rs1

iTrader: (1)

Apparently Stephan Klassen 3d printed his custom inlet(z20let) as a test bed and subsequently used it to make a cast for ally ones once he was happy. During testing he wasn't keen on running too much boost though in case it split.

gingeRS

I work for a Bosch rival and one of my guys was asked to make a component 3mm across with a 1mm bore hub drilled through it, considering it was made by hand on a 40 year old lathe that takes some skill, he was then asked to engrave a serial number on to it!! He engraved something onto it but it certainly wasn't numbers

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

sounds interesting mate. who do you work for?

as said, i do electronics repair, so nothing at all to do with that stuff lol

scoooby slayer

iTrader: (4)

that is so awesome, I want one lol

GARETH T

Fudge tell me more about this laser? Is it made by bosch or someone like forba?

Twellsie

iTrader: (1)

at my last place we did some sintered guide vanes (blades) for a jet engine, extreamly cool

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

Gareth, unfortunatly i really dont know. It was just something i read on the intranet page at work.

I imagine that bosch developed the laser specifically for its intended use (precise diesel injectors iirc)
But this would be in germany, not over here.

There was also another thing about the laser technology where they cut out a shape of a camel, and passed it through the eye of a needle (an old saying aparrently. Ive not heard it before tho lol)

So sorry, i really cant help!

daviddunlop83

iTrader: (7)

Your looking around Ł500,000 for the latest machine to print about A4 size

Guy in the ISLE of Man was in our work when he was over here saying his company was considering buying one.

GARETH T

Lol the needle in the saying is a gateway in the middle east. Lol

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

Ha fuck knows lol

Clever shit tho!

higgsy91

Really?? You can buy a 3d printer for about 400 that prints roughly 15x15cm lol its the type and quality that makes the difference. The ones that use powder are able to build something with moving parts. Type 3d printed wrench on YouTube and prepare to be amazed!

XRT_si

iTrader: (2)

I know of a tuning company that has been printing their own prototype parts such air intake systems. Looked really good.

daviddunlop83

iTrader: (7)

Do you mean likes of a rapid prototype machine that prints plastic?

The one I meant uses a laser to produce metal parts.

It was the owner of the company told me that price.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Them vids are cooooool. I think its mad tbh.

stu21t

Had to post this in here
The turbo housing is 3d printed!!!
So is the exhaust tail pipe, it's the largest 3d printed titanium piece in the world.

Imagine the heat the turbo housing goes through!

Awesome car too.

Over 1000nm of torque under 3k rpm lol imagine what that feels like!

Mark V8

iTrader: (2)

Can't wait to see that on the Top gear track