SWPix.com - HN
Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, and Emma Finucane won gold in the women’s team sprint.
Renishaw’s metal additive manufacturing technology helped Team GB to win eight medals across a series of track cycling competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Among these eight medals was a world-record breaking gold medal for Team GB in the women’s team sprint.
Additive manufacturing technology was used to produce several components of Team BG’s track bike, including an aerodynamic crank, dropouts, seat stay bridge and seat post. The seat post featured a hollow centre and backwards leaning design, allowing airflow through the centre of the bike, while the crank was designed with a variable lattice structure that was denser where it was likely to endure more stress less dense where it could afford to be lighter. All in, Renishaw additively manufactured more than 1,000 parts to support 32 track bikes plus spares.
Renishaw collaborated with British Cycling for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with the UK’s national governing body for cycling wishing to build on that success for this year’s Games. The shorter turnaround time between the Tokyo Games (which took place in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and Paris Games meant Team GB faced significant time constraints for this Summer’s Olympics.
“The carbon fibre parts produced using traditional machining methods for the Tokyo bike met all the requirements we had, but time constraints for the Paris bike meant that this method was no longer viable for some bespoke parts,” said Dr Oliver Caddy, Lead Project Engineer at British Cycling. “After seeing the benefits of AM and what it helped us achieve on the Tokyo bike, we knew it could be a manufacturing method to explore further.”
Renishaw
Ben Collins, Lead Additive Manufacturing Applications Engineer at Renishaw, added: “After determining that the British Cycling team could not produce core crank and seat posts components in carbon fibre within the shorter time frame required, we began creating some additively manufactured prototypes in plastic.
“Additive manufacturing enabled us to create complex geometries that removed any unnecessary weight while delivering the strength required for the athletes to reach racing speed. To develop a more aerodynamic seat post, engineers designed more free-form geometries to hollow out the part as much as possible, something that would not be achievable using traditional methods.”
“We are delighted for British Cycling on another successful Olympic Games and to be able to play a part in this. It’s a fantastic achievement and a great showcase of the benefits of additive manufacturing.”
