3D Printed Cobra

  • Thread starter Kelvari
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Kelvari

Kelvari

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Just saw this article on C|Net talking about how they might start printing Concept cars (instead of the traditional clay-model approach).

Among the rarest and most coveted of all is the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427, and in celebration of the car's 50th anniversary, it's received an overhaul with modern technology. Packing a 3D-printed chassis and an electric motor courtesy of the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the car is currently on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
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I know some will call foul for giving it an electric motor instead of a 427, but this car is admittedly more tech demo than techno-resto.
 
That's amazing. I think once this has time to get better and more widely used, this might end up replacing a lot of the manufacturing process in Motorsports.
 
3D printing, right now, is basically like a cheap CNC machine for smaller enterprises. Except it works with plastic instead of metal.

We don't CNC or 3D print cars in their entirety because it's more expensive than simply stamping out the chassis on big presses...

Still, I can see where @RACECAR is going: 3D printing will definitely help with rapid prototyping and making one-off parts for motorsports use... and in the future, it could even help usher in a renaissance of restoration parts fabrication for cars with out-of-production trim and cosmetic parts.
 
I was doing some testing last year that required a counter measure part for an interior piece. The replacement test part had been 3D printed.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I don't think some processes will ever be replaced. I cannot foresee anything 3D printed being comparable in strength to forging or milling.
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Given the disastrous results of the 3D-printed plastic guns, I'd have to agree with you so far.
 
niky
3D printing, right now, is basically like a cheap CNC machine for smaller enterprises. Except it works with plastic instead of metal.

We don't CNC or 3D print cars in their entirety because it's more expensive than simply stamping out the chassis on big presses...

Still, I can see where @RACECAR is going: 3D printing will definitely help with rapid prototyping and making one-off parts for motorsports use... and in the future, it could even help usher in a renaissance of restoration parts fabrication for cars with out-of-production trim and cosmetic parts.
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3D printing is being done with metal also, they are already making aeroplane parts with it which are lighter and stronger than what they were making with casting.
 
R.S
3D printing is being done with metal also, they are already making aeroplane parts with it which are lighter and stronger than what they were making with casting.
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Certainly possible, you aren't as geometry-constrained with 3D printing as you are with casting. Still, in the long run, casting is cheaper if you're doing it for high production numbers... which is why 3D printing will remain limited in scope for automotive use.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I don't think some processes will ever be replaced. I cannot foresee anything 3D printed being comparable in strength to forging or milling.
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Actually, sinterized parts already have some very remarkable mechanical properties, and the capabilities of laser sintering are improving everyday. SLS is already moving out of the realm of rapid prototyping and is being used in limited run manufacturing.

People said the same thing about some materials thirty years ago - when composite materials first appeared in the world of automotive engineering, people were skeptical.

niky
Still, in the long run, casting is cheaper if you're doing it for high production numbers...
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Hm, not necessarily. Casting is an energy-intensive process that requires quite extensive facilities; the molds are incredibly expensive and have to be replaced quite often; also, a cast piece usually requires further work (machining, surface treatment). Eventually, when the build speed will be increased - by a factor of ten according to some experts- spesinterizing will allow to significantly cut manufacturing time. Also, it makes working with certain materials (like steel superalloys or titanium) far easier, and it allows for the production of parts of optimal shapes that drastically reduce the need for maintenance (as an example, turbine blades made with the SLM process could potentially reduce turbine repair costs by 40%).

Of course there's still a lot of development to be done, but siderurgy has never stopped evolving.

P.S: as it is now, 3d printing is not cheap CNC for small enterprises. This is "cheap" CNC for small enterprises.

34444_Tormach_15L_SlantPro_Lathe.jpg

CNC lathes and mills can usually cater to small enterprises needs while costing a tenth of what an SLS/SLM 3d printer does. Hell, my high school had two CNC lathes and a CNC mill booth and our school department is (and has always been) piss-poor.
 
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ClydeYellow
Actually, sinterized parts already have some very remarkable mechanical properties, and the capabilities of laser sintering are improving everyday. SLS is already moving out of the realm of rapid prototyping and is being used in limited run manufacturing.
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The day that I can 3D print an eccentric shaft for my 13b capable of withstanding 10,000rpm or 3D printed rotor housings capable of withstanding 1700°F is the day I take back what I said.

People might have been skeptical about composite materials, but not because of their strength and capability, because the aerospace industry had clearly proven their worth. If there was skepticism, it was more likely cost and some safety considerations (a lot of composites produce toxic fumes when they burn, which is why they aren't generally used in architecture). Those issues haven't really changed.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
The day that I can 3D print an eccentric shaft for my 13b capable of withstanding 10,000rpm or 3D printed rotor housings capable of withstanding 1700°F is the day I take back what I said.
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That day is definitely not today, but it may come sooner than you expect. Hell, SLM is a technology so young there are no clearly defined international standards for it yet, and NASA calls it experimental tech.

Give it a decade, ant it will be the way to go. Until then, yeah, forged and milled parts are still better.
 
Remember, one of the big potentials from 3D printing is that it's additive rather than reductive, which can potentially save a lot in material cost as you don't have to start with a giant part and mill away most of it in the case of many complex parts, allowing said complex parts to become cost-effective to produce.

Eunos_Cosmo
I don't think some processes will ever be replaced. I cannot foresee anything 3D printed being comparable in strength to forging or milling.
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Kind of going with what @ClydeYellow said, you're right that 3D printed metals currently do not possess the strength and fatigue properties of conventional forging or milling yet, but there's a lot of research being done in that department, to get better material properties that will at least match conventional metal forming methods. Eventually, it's going to be nothing more than figuring out how to print the correct metal crystalline structure necessary to get whatever property you want.

I don't want to say that milling or forging will ever be completely replaced, but I think many parts currently made with those processes will eventually simply be printed.
 
I'm not trying to argue that 3D printing doesn't have potential, but I do get sick of people saying that 3D printing will replace everything.

And as I frequent these parts basically every day, it's something I hear quite often....
 
I agree that 3d printing will not replace everything but the technology is superb according to me. It has already made its way from among almost all the manufacturing fields. Now dental and medical fields are also using 3d printing technology on a high level. Recently I have gone through a blog which stated that the high school girl made a prosthetic using the 3d printing technology. Now I think this is amazing.
 

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