German railway company Deutsche Bahn has certified the use of Essentium’s High Speed Extrusion (HSE) 3D printing platform and materials for train parts and tools.
The HSE platform, which is being used at a facility in Neumünster, has been tested with Essentium’s flame retardant 9085 and HTN-CF25 thermoplastics to ensure it complies with the AM Standard ISO/ASTM 52920:2023 and ISO 52920.
Having passed these tests, Deutsche Bahn believes the HSE platform will allow it to increase the availability of its fleet by replacing parts and tools quickly and efficiently. This will help the company overcome supply chain issues and raw materials shortages for obsolete parts.
Essentium’s HSE technology will be used in tandem with a digital warehouse that boasts around 1,000 technical drawings of spare parts. Using HSE, Deutsche Bahn will be able to create low-run parts on-demand rather than mass manufacturing a larger volume for it to be stored in vast quantities inside a physical warehouse. This should allow the company to increase its delivery speed, while reducing costs.
Read more: Deutsche Bahn's Stefanie Brickwede on 3D printing in the rail industry
Owed to their ability to withstand 180°C and meet industry standards for reliability, repeatability and performance, Essentium’s high-temperature thermoplastics should also mean Deutsche Bahn continues to meet the required standards.
“A lot of people still wonder if additive ready for prime time. Deutsche Bahn, which is 3D printing tens of thousands of replacement parts for its trains, proves it is,” commented Essentium CEO Blake Teipel, Ph.D. “We look forward to advancing Deutsche Bahn’s AM capabilities to speed repairs and keep its assets operational with minimal downtime. This partnership will pave the way for others in the rail and transport industries to follow.”
Deutsche Bahn is among the leading industrial players utilising 3D printing for end-use and spare parts. For the latter application group, the company has been a champion of additive manufacturing's suitability for sometime. Essentium has seen its technology used for this kind of application before, with the 101st AFR Marine Air National Guard leveraging HSE for replacement parts in December 2022.
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