Part Buyers Authority Issue #2

Two of today’s big buzzwords in manufacturing are Additive Manufacturing (AM) and 3D Printing. The technology is not new to the world but over the last few years it has grown exponentially. This is due to the number of inexpensive desktop printers that have been brought to the market and a new younger generation of engineers that are embracing this technology. For under $500 you can have a 3D printer in your house which can allow you and your kids to make all kinds of cool things. I know my kids were so excited to see the first 3D printer work at home. The only problem was they lost interest quickly as that cool little boat they wanted printed didn’t take 5 minutes – it took 12 hours to make. Pretty much all schools and universities now have 3D printers and talk about the technology to their students. This is a great thing for the future of this growing industry which leads into our discussion. Additive Manufacturing in the Automotive Industry My background is CNC Machining (which today they call “Subtractive Manufacturing” which still sounds funny to me) and Automation. I live in the Midwest which is the automotive belt. The goal has always been to produce automotive parts faster, lighter, cheaper, more efficient with less labor, as seconds save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. So where does a slow process like AM/3D printing fit into the automotive space. The answer is, it may never be the solution for making high volume automotive parts. But it is the answer to compliment the manufacturing process in the Automotive Industry. AM can help make the process of making parts run faster which in the long run saves time and money. For our discussion lets focus on 5 ways Additive Manufacturing (AM) using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) can benefit the Automotive Industry. 1. Prototypes of gears 2. Prototypes of complex sheet metal parts and brackets 3. Making fixture details, replacement parts and end effectors for automation 4. Conformal cooling for plastics injection molding 5. Conformal cooling for aluminum die casting CHRIS BECK Manager of Operations, Co-Owner INNOVATIVE 3D MANUFACTURING 18 PART BUYERS A U T H R I T Y 3D METAL PRINTING & THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY Prototypes Gears With all the changes in the transmission industry and the ramp up to 8, 9, and 10 speed transmissions DMLS machines can print near net shapes of gears out of variety of materials, fully dense and heat treatable. With the quick turnaround times and the near net shapes the R&D teams have minimal machining and grinding to get a whole working set of gears for a new project. Prototypes Complex Sheet Metal Design Some amazing parts that our company has printed on our DMLS machines are complex steel sheet metal parts and brackets. Sheet metal parts were something that I would have never thought about printing until we started doing it for the aerospace industry. After proving successful in that industry, we adapted to printing a number of sheet metal parts for automotive industry. This process is great because we can print a tall thin walled part without warping. The downside is it has to be printed in 10” segments and welded or fastened back together. But for fit and trial it works great before the final investment of large progressive dies and breaks. Brackets are another component