Proto3000
Red Bull Proto3000 surfboard
Red Bull and Proto3000's 3D printed surfboard
Red Bull High Performance, a division of the energy drink company, has partnered with 3D printing service provider, Proto3000 to print a surfboard.
Producing what the two companies believe to be the world’s first fully 3D printed surfboard, the concept was to produce an exact replica of an already-existing surfboard design. Traditional methods of surfboard design and production can often involve human inaccuracies during the foam cutting and moulding processes. 3D printing solves that problem with its ability to print complex designs, taking into consideration balance and manoeuvrability. Harnessing 3D printing technology also opens the door for customised design, which could cater for a user’s preferences in weight and shape, for example.
Red Bull and Proto3000’s surfboard was based on the design of Australian professional surfer, Mick Fanning’s 2014 Trestles Board. The 2014 Trestles Board has been dubbed the ocean’s equivalent to a Formula One race car by some in the surfing space. To produce a board to the standards of a pro surfer, Red Bull knew every detail, from the shape to the angles, had to be perfect.
Proto3000 used a Stratasys Fortus 900mc 3D printer to create the prototype in ABS-M30 production-grade thermoplastic material. It took one month for the partners to print a board that they could be proud of with one of the main hurdles to overcome being achieving the correct weight.
Proto3000
Red Bull Proto3000 surfboard
The surfboard was based on the design of Mick Fanning’s 2014 Trestles Board.
“The whole concept of the board is that it can’t be too heavy. If it’s too heavy it can’t be manoeuvrable or balance properly,” said Chris McAloney, Engineering Operations Manager at Proto3000. “To the end, it was still something of a challenge as it was still overweight, but we were able to reduce a lot of it by manipulating the internal structure with honeycomb patterns.”
In the future, Proto3000 say it will most likely print the frame or ribbing of the board and then produce the board itself out of a dissolvable core to ensure it is lightweighted.
McAloney continues: “So now you print the digital design as a largely dissolvable core, wrap the fibrous material around it and seal it, and then we dissolve away the core. And what you’re left with is a seamless wrap, and an extremely light board that has minimal material on the inside for strength.”
Proto3000 believes 3D printing can go onto have a big impact in surfboarding, just as it seems set to in an array of other sports. The company outlines the technology’s ability to bring user-specific features, lightweighted solutions, and ultimately performance-enhancing benefits to sporting equipment. In such competitive environments as a sporting arena, a race track, or even the waves of the ocean, sportspeople are always looking for whatever edge they can get over their opponents.
