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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING manufacturing is also used to produce different automobile parts such as bumpers , windbreakers , pumps , valves and cooling vents .

AUDI AG , a leading manufacturer of premium vehicles , is relying entirely on industrial 3D printing at its Metal 3D Printing Centre in Ingolstadt for the production of selected tool segments . Additive manufacturing ( AM ) with EOS technology is used for 12 segments of four tools for hot forming . Plans call for significantly more segments to be printed this way . Audi uses the tool segments produced using the EOS M 400 system in its press shop to make body panels for models , including the Audi A4 . The company plans to do the same for future electric vehicles .
3D printing technology is already used at Porsche in prototype construction , manufacturing spare parts for classic sports cars as well as in other areas . In cooperation with its partners Mahle and TRUMPF , the sports car manufacturer is establishing a new milestone in the use of additive manufacturing processes for highly-stressed drive components – for the first time , the pistons for the high-performance engine of the 911 flagship model , the GT2 RS , are now also being produced with a 3D printer .
Aerospace applications
“ Additive manufacturing presents the opportunity to completely rethink a product ’ s design , transforming its functionality and reducing manufacturing complexity . This is a disruptive technology that is transformational . Aerospace companies and government programmes are focusing on the advance of metal 3D printing for aerospace engine applications . Advances have been able to make commercial additive manufacturing a reality ,” commented a recent report . “ The aerospace sector has long been
Cooling channels . complex parts in a timely , local , and costeffective way , have a huge part to play .”
Alloyed has worked with aerospace OEM , Honeywell , to test a new high temperature nickel alloy — ABD ® 900AM — with the L-PBF process , to determine if it could serve as a replacement for existing high temperature casting alloys . Using the L-PBF process with high temperature alloys offers better inventory management , reducing late penalties due to tooling delays , and the possibility of creating more intricate shapes , often allowing the integration of several components in a subassembly into one .
AM ’ s disruptive potential for the aerospace sector is widely acknowledged , holding out the opportunity to break the typical
Right : Rocket combustion chamber . recognised as an early adopter when it comes to cutting-edge technology inventions , and as such it is unsurprising that the use of additive manufacturing ( AM ) as a production tool is relatively familiar in many of the leading aerospace OEMS and their supply chains ,” commented Will Dick-Cleland , Process Technology Team , Alloyed .
“ The sector is typically not a mass production industry but is instead characterised by complex low-volume manufacture which plays directly to the strengths of metal AM ( and specifically the Laser Powder Bed Fusion ( L-PBF ) process ) when compared to traditional metal manufacturing processes . In an area that is highly competitive , where conventional manufacturing processes are costly — especially for metal components produced in relatively low volumes — and with supply chains constantly under pressure to conform to ever more stringent environmental performance restrictions , the aerospace sector needs to become more agile . Metal AM processes , with the ability to manufacture innovative geometrically compromise between scale and scope in manufacturing firstly by reducing the capital expenditure required to achieve economies of scale , and secondly by increasing the variety of designs that a given amount of capital expenditure can produce . One AM platform can build a number of complicated parts with variable designs , and this means that large centralised factories with assembly lines are not always required . With AM complexity , production change-overs and customisation are cheaper .
As AM technologies continue to develop and secure a stronger foothold in production scenarios , there is simultaneous development ongoing across the sector to refine associated parts of the AM ecosystem , with a great deal of emphasis being placed on in-process monitoring for traceability and validation purposes , as well as automated postprocessing technologies . A further , vital area of development is materials , particularly metal powders for AM that meet — and exceed — the functionality and performance of existing production materials , as well as meeting the requirements of specific applications .
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