We’ve talked about rapid prototyping before, 3D printing of intricate parts from various types of plastic or, in some cases, from metal where the durability of the finished product isn’t an issue. If only they could print production ready parts for manufactured items the potential of the process would be unleashed. Looks like we’re just about there as GE and EADS, a European aerospace company, are working on making real production ready pieces.
Although you can make almost anything with various castings along with technology like 5 axis milling, sometimes the ideal design gives way to what is reasonable due to the time and difficulty, especially if you need lots of parts. There are even some parts so intricate you could call their production pretty much impossible unless you could print them.
GE manufactures transducers for ultrasound machines:
These transducers are made up of thousands of tiny columns spaced just 30 to 40 micrometers apart, with each column being extremely thin, about eight to 10 times taller than they are wide. It’s extremely difficult to make such parts using casting, since it’s hard to free the part from the mold. So GE makes them using a precise cutting tool that very slowly carves away at a chunk of ceramic. The process is slow and expensive and can only be used to make a limited range of shapes.
Now they’ve developed a process for printing these transducers which opens up possibilities for even more complex shapes allowing designers to create what they really want instead of what manufacturing previously allowed.
EADS is testing the printing of hinges for aircraft engine covers:
Using this technique, EADS has printed metal hinges for engine covers: the hinges allow the covers to swing open for engine maintenance. The parts have intricate shapes that maintain strength while cutting the weight of the part in half. The new hinge has been put through the tests used for conventional parts and shown to meet performance requirements.
Though some metal parts may never be candidates for this type of production due to the need to control the properties of the metal itself to prevent failure, if even a small percentage of parts can make the leap to 3D printing, it could open design possibilities to a far greater degree than current processes allow.
Ever since seeing the first crude 3D prints, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of using rapid prototyping for making production ready parts, but it’s been a long wait for all of the reasons you would imagine, manufacturing tolerances and material strength just to name the most obvious. But if these current efforts make the grade, just think of what we may be able to do as designers and engineers begin to think further outside the box. Neat stuff!
Link: Technology Review
Link: GE Global Research
Link: EADS
Plus: More info on rapid prototyping
MotoRandom says
Thanks Paul for taking the time to give us these glimpses into the future of manufacturing. This topic has obvious impact on the world of motorcycling both with the ability to imagine new designs for parts and rapidly produce them and also the ability to remake the past. How cool will it be when you are trying to restore a 30 year motorcycle and can just recreate an obscure part instead of trying to scour the world looking for one. High on my list of desired software is Mcneel’s Rhino 4.0 which is said to be very friendly with rapid prototyping and manufacturing conversions. I’m on the 3d art side of things but am fascinated by the idea of making physical reproductions of my 3d concepts. If there was a facility nearby I could take a flashdrive to and have them make a model for a modest price, that would be many levels of awesome. If you want to really get brain warped on the possibilities that we are moving towards I would recommend “Hacking Matter” by Wil Mccarthy. This delves in to the truly visionary concept of programmable atoms.
As we are starting see a lot of 3d rendered concept bikes it’s really exciting to realize that many of these can soon be created with relative ease. While there is a lot interest and publicity about electric bikes right now, it’s good to remember that exciting things are happening to bring Internal Combustion Engine motorcycles in to the 21st century.
jar says
What part volumes are considered “production”? Getting the properties is great, but getting the cost down per unit volume is the difficulty, and why we will not see such technology in a “production” sense.
Even in a nylon or abs plastic printed parts take a significant amount of time, and a significant amount of cost to develop. The size and scale of the part and process have a significant impact on possibilities as well, as most printers have a small build envelope, the majority of which are capable of dealing with build volumes in the neighborhood of 2 shoeboxes.
Look at the parts they’ve developed this process to construct – expensive, time consuming, close tolerance parts – my guess – not large in scale.
The best design, too expensive to manufacture, is NOT the best design. The hinge on the front page is a perfect example. Converting the lightweight version to something mass producable, would likely involve a forging or a casting – each with significant secondary ops (machining), or significant tooling costs and complexity to achieve the form. Great if a guy is making 15-50 ultrasound machines at $500,000 a year, not so good for guys putting (8) in every car going down the line…..
Neat stuff, but reality is what it is.
rohorn says
It also takes time for designers (that includes engineers, stylists, and everyone in between) to understand how to take advantage of new materials and processes. The possibilites don’t present themselves. Thinking ahead is how you get ahead – wait too late and reality leaves you behind.
How things are currently done and/or are fashionable make great info for the out of touch, but I’d rather read about what is around the corner. That’s why I subscribe here.
todd says
This is truly interesting. Most of our training for developing strong parts dealt with (then) state of the art manufacturing processes. These processes dictated flat shapes and typical gussets. This really is a new design language and I imagine engineering software will adapt to optimize the capabilities. you would be able to input load and size constraints and the software would map out the most efficient shape for the greatest structure using the least amount of material. Parts will begin to look much more organic and graceful.
Though these processes currently take a lot of shop hours and expensive equipment that is bound to come down. The desire to pump up production out of something as great as this would push development at a rapid pace.
-todd
B50 Jim says
Not too many years ago, stereolithography was little more than a curiosity that made resin facsimiles of parts, but plenty of forward-thinking folks saw its potential and stuck with its development. It’s now a valid, viable means of making parts that can’t be made any other way. That makes it a valuable tool in its own right. Given the economies of scale necessary for larger-scale production, the process will see further development. Look at electrodischarge machining (EDM) — 50 years ago it was a laboratory curiosity; 40 years ago it was finding its way into production; 20 years ago it had widespread use, and today it’s common. Industrial processes with real potential will be developed and used, no matter how “out there” they seem at first. Can’t wait to see entire bikes made this way!
Dorzok says
no more obsolete parts.
Paulinator says
This is the shape of things to come. Shape doesn’t only please the eye, it also has an intrinsic effect on structural performance. Printed components in 3D enable the designer to optimize the shape with a freedom that cannot be matched with any other process. I can only assume that material density/porosity and honeycombing will become programmable entities if they aren’t already. Soon material properties such as elastic modulus, yield strength, ultimate strength, elongation, hardness, heat-treatability, surface finish and thermal conductivity will evolve and this technology will become a bench mark.
Just think “powdered-metal gears and fractured rods”.
Neil says
What volumes are considered production? I’m actually working on a project to possibly use this technology in one of our products. Volumes would be around 20k per month. It’s all about selecting the correct tool for the job…
todd says
Neil, these parts are typically printed over night. Build time is measure in hours. Sure, a small, simple part might take 10 minutes but there is not enough time in a month to print out 20,000 units on a single printer. You should be looking at injection molding.
-todd
Dai says
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiFQnUfsENI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
RepRap an opensource 3D printer
Dai says
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUB1WgiAFHg
A better video of the RepRap
rafe03 says
My cousin & his brother used to work for a specialty stainless steel manufacturing company. They had a “training program” where the company would let employees work after hours on their own projects. As a couple of incurable HotRodders, these guys used AutoCAD to design a set of heads for a flathead Ford V8 but set up for double ignition (2 sparking plugs per pot).
From the AutoCAD drawings & using Rapid Prototyping, they made all of the mold sections & core boxes. Then off to a friendly aluminium foundry where the castings were made, both left & right (Just mirror the drawing. Text remains the same!) CNC machining was also from the same AutoCAD drawings. After some test running & a bit of tweaking, a production run of 11 sets were manufactured with most of them sold,
A couple of years later, when I got around to visiting him, my face just about fell off when he opened the bonnet of his A-bone! He figures they cost him less per pair than if he have bought some nice fined heads from any of the several common sources.
I wanted to buy a set of these wonderful heads from him but he doesn’t work for that company any more. If he had free access to the RP & CNC equipment, it would have been only a couple of weeks of occasional evenings to whack out another set. Production run of 1 set! Or even several sets as all the digital stuff was all ready to go again!
I’ve been thinking that I should take some AutoCAD & CNC courses at the local community college where I could have the opportunity to make some magic stuff of my own! Now where did I leave that night school course catalog?
rafe03
Hogan says
Laser Metal Sintering is another process you might want to look into. This process give manufacturers a way to produce parts directly from any metal available. The upside to additive manufacturing is that it allows designers to work without restricting their designs to the limits of machining processes (subtractive manufacturing). This could be a huge benefit in an age where designers don’t often understand how to design parts for ease of manufacturing, or are unable to because of insurmountable design restrictions. When this technology becomes affordable, manufacturers will be able to cut the chains that have held them back. Long lead times and expensive prototypes will be a thing of the past. Designers will be able to print a fully capable part out of the actual material that the end product will be made of. Manufacturers could print their parts directly onsite instead of off-shoring the work. Customers could purchase designs online and instantly print the final product at home or their neighborhood Kinkos. Programmable atoms are just the next variation of the same idea. Add a 3D scanner to one of these printers you have a replicator. It isn’t a question of if, but when.
2MV8 says
There is another side to rapid prototyping that no one has touched on, with the age of supercomputers in the palm of your hand and learning intelligent software, what will stop the machines from reproducing themselves. Just a thought. I like the idea of being able to produce your own parts in the comfort of your own home. What will the outcome of this technology be? There will be tens of thousands of different motorcycles availible to us, by manufacturers in in all parts of the world. Only a persons imagination will be the only limiting factor, the future is bright and scary…..
Dan says
amazing stuff! if nothing else this technology allows true working prototypes to be manafactured at a relatively low cost and instantly. we may not see this as viable full production technique for many years but it is definitely the way of the future.
>jar “The best design, too expensive to manufacture, is NOT the best design.”
this is completely true of the present but consider the future where materials are scarce and hopefully renewable energy is cheap and bountiful the best designs will be the most efficient in material use with the least production waste. imagine printing the perfect part that is lean strong and durable, with minimal post production polishing.
star trek here we come
David Sánchez says
We are using around 10 different “plastic” rapid prototyping parts in our moto2 bike. These parts are very strong, very light and are working great. Some examples:
http://www.bottpower.com/images/100701-airbox-intake-sls-450.jpg
http://www.bottpower.com/images/101003-arana-450.jpg
Working with this kind of technology is very interesting because you don’t need to design thinking in the fabrication process, so you can design parts that would be impossible to fabricate using traditional methods. In this way you can add internal ribs, use variable thickness, etc. This allows to achieve parts with very high structural efficiency.
Another advantage is that you can improve the design constantly, I mean, you are using a part, you see some way to improve it, you change the design and next part you order is new. With other methods a lot of times you have molds or tools that should pay for itself, so you can not change the design everytime you need it.
We are not using any rapid prototyping metallic part by the moment, but I think that we will start to use metallic parts soon.
Hugo says
Apparantly BMW is working on a really big rapid prototyping machine which produces the complete body-in.white of a car! the advantage would be that every car can be different, you can place the material where you need it, variants are easy to generate, etc. (offcourse we are not talking about mass production…yet)
The materials used in rapid prototyping are also changing rapidly so the next years will be interesting
B50 Jim says
This technology is very close to the replicators on the Starship Enterprise. Judging by the technology illustrated on The Kneeslider alone, the pace of innovation is speeding up exponentially. We’re stumbling into the future with one eye open and, despite our best efforts to screw it up, we’re moving forward. A world of inexpensive renewable energy, coupled with global access to information and manufacturing technology that places most of the decisions in the hands of the consumer, is just over the horizon. We’re leapfrogging science fiction; people being born now will look back on our society the way we look back on the medieval world.
Azzy says
Between this and Metal Glass ( http://www.natureasia.com/asia-materials/highlight.php?id=848 )
Printing and casting most of an engine may be possible.
todd says
I remember many, many years ago in a Materials Science class the discussion of the theoretical possibility of transparent metal. Here it finally is. So cool.
-todd
MotoRandom says
Transparent aluminum was developed in San Fransisco back in the 1980s by an engineer named Montgomery Scott. Unfortunately all of the information about this was suppressed by the government when he was discovered to be associated with a group of terrorists that tried to sabotage the nuclear vessel CVN-65, the U.S.S. Enterprise. The former Soviet Union denied all knowledge of this even though one of those captured was clearly Russian. They were all quietly swept away by government agents and never heard from again. To this day the government denies this incident ever happened and nobody ever knew what happened to the transparent aluminum. This has all been kept so hush-hush that even Snopes refuses to put up on article about it.
Tinkerer says
I see what you did there, Gene Roddenberry!
Azzy says
It isn’t quite transparent metal, but metal in a glass state.
My understanding is that the material is still in a somewhat fluid state, before crystallization, but moving so slowly it seems to be solid.
Or is my recollection of that lesson a tad off?
Casey says
Great, Now we can get rid of those persnickity,expensive Prototype machinists and Model Makers.
Phoebe says
Although this made me laugh, the truth is that this is already happening.
Core says
Cool article. Here’s hoping to the success of this rapid prototyping.