From cover to core, transportation design today affords inspiring new possibilities thanks to evolving large-scale AM technologies. Across luxury industries such as yachting and private aircraft to UAV’s and Advanced Air Mobility (AMM), elegance and aerodynamics are both sought after and feasible. LSAM is serving all stages of manufacturing workflows from design and development through tooling and production.
On-Site LSAM Ensures Trams Stay on Track
Alstom
Front fairing for ©ALSTOM light rail vehicle. 3D printed in 16 hours, reinforced, installed, and qualified by Stratiforme Industries.
The railway industry is one of several sectors heavily dependent on Composite Materials due to their superb strength-to-weight ratio. Lighter vehicles inherently require less fuel consumption thereby lowering all-round costs. Trams, in particular, suffer frequent damage due to accidents and therefore require custom parts and spare parts to be stored and readily available for various models. However traditional tooling for large parts is costly and generally generates significant waste.
Alstom
France-based company Stratiforme Industries has directly printed full-scale tram parts using the company’s Massivit large-scale printer. Serving Europe’s leading railway manufacturers such as ALSTOM, SNCF, and CAF, Stratiforme has thereby entirely removed the need for tooling - including production of masters and molds - by employing Massivit’s Gel Dispensing Printing technology which then only requires light reinforcement (fiberglass or other composite materials) before hitting the tracks. This in-house solution provides a build volume of 145cm x 111cm x 180cm allowing large components to be printed in one piece. The company has been able to reduce tooling bottlenecks down from several weeks to zero. This has halved their costs for production when it comes to short runs.
Massivit’s Cast In Motion technology offers an additional option for printing large, sturdy molds that can withstand hundreds of pulls for composite end parts including covers for trams, yachts, drones, and more.
Covers for Advanced Air Mobility
Massivit
Drone Mold 3D Printed on Massivit 10000 - Selected by JEC World for Innovation Planets Display.
Due to their dependence on aerodynamics factors and general requirements for speed, drone covers must be lightweight to conserve battery power and must be stiff to withstand outdoor conditions, so they are often produced from composite materials.
This requires tooling which has generally involved machining aluminum blocks for molds. Newly available LSAM tooling methods, available with the Massivit 10000 additive system, allow drone manufacturers to speed up mold production by 80%, cut overall costs, and minimize material waste associated with aluminum tooling.
Large-Scale Tooling Mechanical Properties
The casting resins used by the Massivit 10000 additive system allow for a range of applications from room temperature up to 120° temperatures. The printer makes use of Sika-based liquid tooling resins, co-developed with Massivit for the printer’s Cast In Motion technology. Importantly, these widely-trusted thermoset resins - either epoxy-based or polyurethane-based – enable true isotropy as opposed to many existing thermoplastic AM solutions. Durable large custom molds, masters, jigs and fixtures can be printed for covers or interiors within a matter of days, allowing for hundreds of pulls.
For Luxury Industries, What’s on the Inside Counts
kudla Shutterstock
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Luxury traveling. Interior of modern motor yacht.
When it comes to custom-designed jets, private aircraft, super yachts and RV’s, exquisite interior designs can be achieved with new LSAM tooling. Large-scale 3D printing has come of age and empowers service bureaus to digitally create industrial molds for stunning end parts, at high speed. All manner of boating interior panels, aircraft internal finishes, bathrooms and vanities can benefit from combining additive manufacturing with high grade tooling materials, to achieve both design flexibility and production speed.
Whether fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar or other composite end parts are required, large-scale 3D printing affords bespoke components to be produced using a range of industry-trusted liquid tooling resins including Sika materials.
Full-Scale Functional Prototyping
3D printed grill prototype by Hino Trucks, Hexagon Purus & Figure Plant for the Tern RC8 truck launch .
One of the challenges of transportation prototyping is building full-scale parts without the need to bond multiple pieces together. Massivit’s gel-based technology allows for large components to be printed in one piece. The printers’ UV light allows for large parts to cure on-the-fly. Large truck grills and car panels can rapidly be designed, brought to fruition, and then reiterated as needed. LSAM is allowing significantly faster design and development lead times.
Massivit
The mobility (or transportation) arena is advancing at an incredible pace. Massivit’s large-scale additive manufacturing systems, ranging from the most affordable Massivit 3000 to the company’s top-of-the-line Massivit 10000, provide new automated production workflows for all stages of large-format manufacturing be it end-use parts, tooling, or prototyping. In-house production allows transportation manufacturers to reduce their carbon footprint, expedite lead times, and cut costs, while importantly, protecting sensitive IP for OEMs.
For further information on Massivit’s large-scale 3D printers, grab your inspiration here.
