Hello and welcome to this week’s Insight.
We are going to explore again how digital
manufacturing meets the needs of a specific
industry. So today we will be getting to grips
with how it can help the automotive industry.
And there is no doubt that this industry faces
some tough challenges. While the combustion
engine has had more than a century to evolve,
the industry has just 10 years to develop
an equally reliable and convenient electric
option.
Also, while 100 years ago people were happy
with Henry Ford’s famous black car, now
we want a car that is built for us. Unfortunately,
the industry still relies on mass production,
so how can it attain new levels of personalisation
within this existing infrastructure?
There are some tough questions that need answering.
Luckily manufacturing technology is evolving
rapidly and it can help make those challenging
leaps into the future.
Whether it’s to design new lighter weight
components or parts, or to deliver customised
features for a customer, the industry and
its supply chain must be more agile.
The great news is if you partner with the
right suppliers, the technology does exist
to help to deliver what is needed rapidly,
so there is no need to hold up the production
line.
Industrial 3D printing is a great example
of this.
It can allow you to develop prototypes from
both metal and plastic in incredibly short
time frames. Depending on what you want you
can upload your CAD design and have a part
delivered within a day.
It means you can test it, reiterate the design
and make sure that it is 100 percent right
before committing to mass production.
3D printing also allows you to design shapes
and geometries that are simply not possible
using other manufacturing technologies. This
could be an organic shape or a honeycomb structure
to take weight out of a part.
Other options for bridge manufacturing or
low volume production are CNC machining or
injection moulding. There are suppliers who
can turn around parts in as little as 1 day
– even using these technologies.
In fact get them more involved right from
the beginning of a part’s development because
the chances are what you thought was an impossible
deadline is now possible.
But for now I’m going to explore what is
possible using industrial 3D printing for
just two materials –copper and polypropylene.
Why these two materials? Well copper is becoming
increasingly important as we move towards
electrification, and polypropylene is the
most common plastic used by the industry.
The latter is highly durable, tough and light;
perhaps that is why it is used for up to 32
percent of all the plastic found in many cars.
But let’s start with copper. Until recently
if you wanted to protype or produce a copper
part then you would probably have to turn
to CNC machining.
Now that you can get 3D printed copper parts
your engineering design world has really opened
up. It means you can develop geometries that
were simply not possible before either, in
order to save weight or to reduce the number
of components.
Typically, it will be a low alloyed copper
material. This still has great electrical
and thermal conductivity and has better mechanical
and corrosion resistance than pure copper.
Don’t get me wrong, for some applications
you may still be better to opt for a CNC machined
part. The best thing is to speak to your supplier
who can offer both technologies.
Okay what about polypropylene? Again, this
is a new material for 3D printing, until recently
you just couldn’t do it.
But new developments in this material mean
that now you can. And this means that you
can get a prototype of a new part in the same
material that it will be manufactured from
in as little as 1 day; so that you can test
it not only for form but also for function
before committing to full manufacturing.
Just like with copper, 3D printing this material
opens new design horizons. If you want something
a bit different, to personalise a dashboard
for example, then why not? The point is you
are no longer restricted by the manufacturing
technology available to you.
Of course, you don’t have to plump for 3D
printing, if you don’t need a complex design
or require high volumes then CNC machining
or injection moulding may be a better answer.
Both copper and polypropylene are important
materials in automotive components but there
are many others such as thermoplastics, nylons,
liquid silicone rubber, and aluminium among
other metals.
The point that I am really making is that
both material science and new manufacturing
technologies are evolving quickly and that
means there are always new options for design
engineers to explore. Talk to your suppliers
throughout the supply chain and get them involved
in part and component development.
Much of what was impossible until recently,
is now possible. Who knows what the near future
will bring? Get your supply chain involved
in product development and we can help you
respond to many of the difficult challenges
ahead.
That’s it for this week. I look forward
to seeing you again next Friday.
