by Cassandra Balentine
Three-dimensional (3D) printing plays an increasing role in automobile manufacturing. Metal additive manufacturing (AM), is often utilized for this segment and technology continues to evolve.
Above: GEFERTEC’s WAAM process is used primarily for tools and sheet metal forming tools.
Early adoption of metal 3D printing was primarily focused on prototyping and fixtures. With this technology, car manufacturers quickly produce prototypes of parts and components, allowing for rapid iteration and design improvement without the need for expensive tooling, shares Mark Norfolk, president, Fabrisonic LLC.
Sebastian Recke, senior key account manager, GEFERTEC GmbH, agrees, adding that car manufacturers utilize the advantages of AM/wire arc AM (WAAM) for items such as sheet metal forming tools.
“Metal printing also allows for rapid production and design iterations for jigs, fixtures, and other tooling equipment used in the manufacturing process. These custom tools help streamline production, improve accuracy, and reduce costs compared to traditional machining methods,” says Norfolk.
As technology evolves, metal printing moves into highly bespoke items for limited run specialty additions. 3D printing enables customization of automotive parts according to specific requirements or individual preferences. This includes interior features, exterior aesthetics, and even functional components tailored to a particular vehicle or customer, explains Norfolk.
Along the same lines, printing has allowed innovation in racing. “In motorsports, where performance and weight are crucial, 3D printing is extensively used to produce lightweight and aerodynamic components. Teams can quickly design and fabricate custom parts to gain a competitive edge on the track,” says Norfolk.
In the motorsports sector, Andrew Hawkins, product marketing manager, Additive Industries, shares that technology is used for production race car parts both structural and non-structural, as well as in the wind tunnel testing environment.
Recke suggests that 3D metal printing is still not primarily used for components installed in the car itself, but instead for tools required by car manufacturers. “Here, series production involves very large quantities at low unit costs. “At best, the occasional use of 3D-printed metal components can be observed in the luxury segment.”
While mainly leveraged by car manufacturers, the role of 3D printing for functional parts is not out of reach. Alexandre Tartas, global head of 3D metals go-to-market, HP Personalization and 3D Printing, argues that the use of 3D printing technology by automobile manufacturers and tier one and two suppliers has significantly evolved from its initial application in prototyping to its current role in producing engineering-grade, functional parts. “This shift was facilitated by not only significant advancements in 3D printing technologies, which now offer enhanced quality and repeatability in processes that are essential for automotive manufacturing, but also growing acceptance and accessibility to AM solutions for production in recent years.”
Production Benefits
By integrating 3D printing capabilities in house, manufacturers gain the ability to rapidly respond to supply chain challenges, enhance performance by design, and transition to electrification in a cost-driven industry without the lead times associated with traditional manufacturing methods. “With on demand manufacturing capabilities, OEMs and automotive suppliers can reduce their reliance on external suppliers, ensuring smoother production flows and enhancing overall operational resilience,” offers Tartas.
AM provides manufacturers with more flexibility, stresses Recke. “They manufacture tools and equipment for production quickly and easily. When developing new tools, changes to the component are made without great effort.”
Hawkins believes a key benefit for automotive customers’ production facilities is in reduced lead times compared to conventional production routes, particularly for small series production parts or development parts and jigs and fixtures. “Also, for small series production parts and complex tooling significant functional performance improvements can be made as well as cost savings.”
To facilitate the widespread adoption of metal 3D printing in automotive manufacturing, Norfolk says several material qualifications issues must be addressed. “Crucial among these are ensuring consistent material properties across batches, establishing standardized certification processes, testing to validate mechanical properties, implementing process control and quality assurance measures, and ensuring compatibility with post-processing techniques. Additionally, addressing cost considerations is vital to competitiveness with traditional manufacturing methods.”
In general, integrating 3D printing has transformed production facilities by significantly enhancing production flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability. Tartas admits that a common pitfall of traditional machinery utilized for part production is that it is designed to create one specific product, requiring the shipping of various parts, a largely energy-intensive and costly process. In contrast, 3D printers optimize production facilities by enabling part production to take place exactly when and where specific parts are needed, eliminating the constraints of fixed tooling and reducing the time, cost, and CO2 footprint associated with part production and logistics.
“We see 3D printing as paving the way for a transformative future in automobile manufacturing by offering solutions to mitigate supply chain volatility and improve environmental impact. While AM currently serves as a strategic, adaptable solution, it holds the potential to uproot and grow the industry by enabling OEMs to rapidly adapt to changing market demands and reduce dependencies on complex, global supply chains, thereby optimizing production resilience and sustainability. Automotive electrification in particular—one of the key challenges of the automotive industry—will benefit from the great value of metal AM to develop innovative solutions that drive faster transition to electric vehicles (EVs),” notes Tartas.
AM Advancements
In recent years Norfolk notes progress in understanding the best uses of metal 3D printing within various industries. “With more real-world examples emerging, engineers are increasingly adept at recognizing where 3D printing’s distinct strengths are effectively applied.”
The increasing number of competitors on the market creates a clear dynamic and spurs providers to further develop systems. “In recent years, the quality of the system and sensor technology has continued to improve with experience. The machines score points for their high degree of industrialization, reliability, and robustness, while production speed has increased at the same time. With the current level of automation, unmanned production is possible 24/7. With over 200 completed component projects, we have mastered the processes, which remains one of the biggest challenges in 3D metal printing,” offers Recke.
After adopting polymer-based 3D printing technologies for many years, Hawkins says the automotive industry is able to use more metal 3D printing in its business due to vast improvements in hardware, enabling higher productivity, reduced part cost, and increased material options. “Companies like Additive Industries provide many opportunities to realize serial production, tooling, and prototyping applications by providing flexible, modular, and automated manufacturing systems, which enable automotive manufacturers to produce parts with high throughput in a range of alloys.”
AM is rapidly improving thanks to the introduction of engineering-grade materials and more stable and predictable processes. “These advancements make AM much more efficient and cost effective than when the technology was first introduced, which is what is needed from an automotive manufacturing standpoint for the technology to be commercially viable,” comments Tartas.
HP’s journey from prototyping with OEMs to becoming a regular parts supplier for several big-name brands over the years has steered the company towards improving the reliability of its commercial 3D printers. “This experience and direct access to OEMs has also shown us what it takes for AM to be the disruptive production option we know it to be,” according to Tartas.
Parts Production
Norfolk says currently, automotive manufacturers use 3D printing to support manufacturing, versus manufacturing parts using 3D printing. “For example, makers print fixtures, jigs, and custom tooling to enable manufacturing. Automotive companies also use 3D printing for protoytyping—allowing them to quickly go from design to physical model. Some companies are printing spare parts when those parts are no longer in production. Other common applications include brackets that optimize design but would be difficult to manufacture traditionally.”
Many parts are produced in the vehicle prototyping phase, used in place of parts that typically have long lead times such as castings or forgings to enable more time and scope in the design cycle. “For low-volume production of high-specification vehicles, some of these parts are then introduced as the final production solution. Further, 3D printing is used to produce mold tool inserts with conformal cooling for die cast parts, which are enabling higher throughput and tool life due to the design flexibility to create highly optimized cooling channels,” says Hawkins.
The WAAM-process is currently used primarily for tools and sheet metal forming tools. “If we look at the reasons for this, we see various advantages for manufacturers. Firstly, AM makes you independent of supply chains. In view of the current global upheavals, we are repeatedly seeing cases in which manufacturers are faced with the problem of procuring the parts they need in good time. Many of our customers therefore rely on local production with raw materials (wire) that are reliably available.
Secondly, additional functions can be incorporated into the production process with WAAM, which would be difficult or impossible to achieve using conventional methods, for example by combining different materials or structures. Thirdly, 3D metal printing offers faster production times as well as cost and material savings compared to conventional manufacturing processes such as milling or casting. Components or spare parts can be produced in a fraction of the usual time. This is particularly interesting for spare parts that are not needed regularly but can still be critical for the performance of a system,” explains Recke.
Compared to milling, metal printing saves up to 95 percent of material, depending on the component, as it utilizes most of the material used, according to Recke. This makes the process particularly interesting for high-quality materials or materials that are difficult to machine.
Tartas points out that OEMs use 3D printed parts on their vehicles every day, many of which are entirely new, highly complex, and sustainable designs made possible only by building additively. These could be engine components that withstand high-temperature and high-pressure environments, high-performance braking systems, and even lightweight auto body parts that improve a vehicle’s efficiency.
AM has the ability to handle many different configurations in comparison to the limitations faced with traditional manufacturing processes. “At the end of the day, it all boils down to part function and design for AM principles—we have to focus on the right parts that would benefit most from being 3D printed,” shares Tartas.
AM Advances Automotive
3D metal AM is regularly utilized by car manufacturers for tooling parts. However, as technology advances it is making headway into actual parts production in the automotive space.
Jun2024, Industrial Print Magazine
