Ford Motor Company and EOS are combating alloy wheel theft with unique 3D printed locking wheel nuts designed using a driver’s voice. A singular soundwave collected from this vocal recording is converted into a 3D printable pattern indented into the nut and key components, which can not be loosened with standard tools. “It’s one of the worst […]
3D Printing Industry Review of the year: February 2019
The month of February 2019 saw conferences such as SOLIDWORKS 2019 and TCT ASIA in Shanghai, innovations from start-ups such as UrbanAlps and Hexo Helmets, as well as the presentation of what is said to be “the largest 3D metal printed part for a working vehicle in automotive history.” SOLIDWORKS 2019 3D Printing Industry was present […]
Women in 3D Printing events coming this July
Women in 3D Printing, the California-based organization supporting gender diversification of the global additive manufacturing sector, is bringing communities together through a slew of events this month. Now encompassing 18 chapters across four continents, the summer schedule starts with events in Canada, Germany, South Africa, Australia, and Kansas. In the most recent update, the organization has also […]
3D printing enables high performance for Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
American automaker Ford Motor Company has revealed the use of 3D printing in generating the high performance of its new vehicle, the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500. Virtual testing over 500 designs in supercomputers utilizing additive manufacturing prototyping tools, a team of Ford designers and engineers set out to make the “most advanced performance street-legal Mustang […]
Preview AMUG 2019: conference keynote speakers
The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) annual meeting brings together experts and leaders from across the AM world. In a crowded calendar of 3D printing events, AMUG has become well established as a must attend conference for anyone serious about additive. 3D Printing Industry will of course be returning to AMUG as attendees and media sponsor […]
Pushing it to the Limit with the Hoonitruck! Ford Creates Largest 3D Printed Auto Part Ever
Ken Block
Rev up your engines and get those motors racing as we explore the wilder side of 3D printing in the automotive industry. If you are a car and truck or racing enthusiast who likes it with an epic dose of flash and glam mixed in too, you have probably heard of professional rally driver Ken Block (famous for his Gymkhana videos and documentary) and perhaps even envied his wild drives around the world—most recently tail-spinning from snowy Sweden to the urban streets of Detroit.
Ford has been a major sponsor of Block’s, along with a host of other companies, also now contributing to his 1977 Ford 150 ‘Hoonitruck.’ Obviously, this is not your run-of-the-mill vintage truck. Block enjoys some luxuries like remote startup via a smartphone app, but here are some of the more hardcore features that may interest you, to include:
- A twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 (like the GT Le Mans racing car)
- 914 horsepower
- 702 lb-ft torque
- Toyo Proxes ST III tires with 20-inch Turbomac wheels
Now, Ford engineers have also employed 3D printing in one of their German facilities to make serious innovations for Block’s truck. It is important to note that along with all the usual benefits of 3D printing—affordability in production, speed in turnaround, ability to create and edit iterations without hiring or waiting on a middleman—the greatest gift is in being able to fabricate parts that simply were not possible before.
For this project, the Ford engineering team was behind the creation of a complex geometry that took five days to make. Using aluminum as their material of choice (just one example of the wide range of materials available today offering extreme strength and durability for industrial endeavors), they created the largest 3D printed piece made from such a material for functional use in a vehicle.
The intake manifold required a web like structure that could not have been manufactured with conventional techniques:
“We are fortunate to have access to incredible technology, but this was one project that pushed us—and our computing power—to the absolute limit,” said Raphael Koch, an advanced materials and processes engineer at Ford of Europe.
Historically, the technology and processes used in automobile manufacturing has been just as fascinating (if not more so) as the products themselves. That trend has never stopped, propelled even further today with the advent of 3D printing and additive manufacturing and its wide use in the auto industry; in fact, some cars are now being completely constructed along those lines.
The aluminum 3D printed intake manifold
Leading manufacturers like Ford have been using 3D printing since its inception, mainly for prototyping, and long before the mainstream even had a clue about technology that would come along and rock the world not only with a major cool factor, but also allowing for infinite possibilities in creation never before imagined. Check out more heart-stopping footage of Block below, putting his Mustang to the test in Colorado—speeding up to the top of Pike’s Peak, one of the states most famous ‘fourteeners.’
What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.
[Source: Car and Driver; Images: Car and Driver / Ford]
Carbon and Ford Expanding Collaboration for Automotive 3D Printing Solutions
HVAC Lever Arm
Digital manufacturing company Carbon and the Ford Motor Company, which recently announced the opening of its new Advanced Manufacturing Center in Michigan, have revealed that they are expanding their existing collaboration, which began in 2015 around the time that Silicon Valley-based Carbon emerged from stealth mode with its innovative CLIP technology. The original partnership centered around materials research and using 3D printing for current and future vehicle design, and now the two companies will be working together to design and digitally manufacture several new durable, end-use automotive parts.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Ford Motor Company and are excited about the many opportunities to leverage the power of digital manufacturing to deliver durable, end-use parts with similar – or better – properties as injection molded parts. The automotive industry shows significant promise for using digital fabrication at scale, and our work with Ford is a perfect example of the kind of innovation you can achieve when you design on the means of production,” said Dr. Joseph DeSimone, the CEO and Co-Founder of Carbon.
Parking Brake Bracket
This week, Carbon, which has worked in the automotive sector in the past, revealed for the first time some of the new 3D printed polymer parts it produced for Ford, which was recognized for its work in automotive 3D printing in the fall as a triple finalist in the Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, which is held by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE).
Carbon used its robust 3D printers, proprietary Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology, and durable EPX (epoxy) 82 material to create several automotive parts, including HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Cooling) Lever Arm Service Parts for the Ford Focus, Ford F-150 Raptor Auxiliary Plugs for a niche market, and Ford Mustang GT500 Electric Parking Brake Brackets.
Together, Carbon and Ford jointly presented the new applications at the Additive Manufacturing for Automotive Workshop, which is part of the 2019 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) held in Detroit this week.
When it comes to materials, Carbon knows what it’s talking about – the company’s mission is to reinvent how we design, engineer, manufacture, and deliver polymer products. Its EPX 82 material, part of its epoxy resin family, was a perfect choice for 3D printing the new automotive parts.
The components not only passed the rigorous performance standards set down by Ford for their selected applications, but they were also able to hold up well in terms of critical requirements, like fluid and chemical resistance, flammability (ISO 3795), short- and long-term heat exposures, interior weathering, UV stability, and fogging (SAEJ1756).
Carbon has been a major power player in the 3D printing field since it arrived on the scene. Now, through some of its more high-profile partnerships with companies such as Vitamix, Johnson & Johnson, adidas, and Ford, the company is moving past 3D printing and, in its own words, on “to full-scale digital manufacturing” by working with its customers to create high quality, well-made products across multiple industries.
What do you think? Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.
[Images provided by Carbon]
Desktop Metal welcomes former General Electric CEO to Board of Directors
Desktop Metal, a Burlington, Massachusetts based metal 3D printer manufacturer, has announced that the former Chairman and CEO of the General Electric Company, Jeffrey Immelt will join the company’s Board of Directors. Immelt joined GE in 1982, fresh from an MBA at Harvard. In 2001, Immelt succeeded Jack Welch as CEO of GE. Of today’s […]