For automobiles, while there is a trend toward smaller batches of cars being produced, the current integration of 3D printing technology with automobiles is not that the cost of 3D printing technology is independent of this aspect of yield correlation, but that 3D printing technology achieves more complex products.
In the field of metal 3D printing to reduce the cost of parts, indirect metal 3D printing technology, represented by binder injection metal 3D printing technology, has gained high attention in the industry with high speed and low cost. The HP metal 3D printing technology adopted by the public is exactly the binder injection metal 3D printing technology.
The binder injection metal 3D printing technology, from the perspective of production efficiency and economy, fully meets the requirements of automotive-oriented mass production applications. And the rich variety of printable materials (from metal to ceramic, metal and metal composites, ceramic and metal composites, etc.) makes the binder injection metal 3D printing technology applicable scenarios have been further extended
In addition to aluminum and copper alloys for automotive use, steel materials currently suitable for binder metal 3D printing technology include: 17-4PH stainless steel, 304L stainless steel, 316L stainless steel, M2 tool steel, H13 tool steel, but also 4140 stainless steel, 420 stainless steel, 4340 stainless steel, 4605 stainless steel and other materials under development
In addition, the rapid development of plastic 3D printing and carbon fiber composite 3D printing has enriched the technology options for automotive 3D printing.
VW aims to manufacture 50,000 to 100,000 football-sized parts per year, which may include things like gearshifts and mirror mounts. Additive manufacturing is gaining deployment in the growing electric vehicle production sector for its lightweighting benefits.
The powder used by Ford for binder jet metal 3D printing is Al6061, and the implications of successfully applying aluminum to the 3D printed production of automotive parts are significant: the shift from traditional manufacturing processes to 3D printing processes will reduce weight, save space, and improve part performance by simplifying design, as well as save cost and time.
3D printing avoids this development hurdle by virtually eliminating the need for molds. Since traditional production involves complex bending and welding processes, 3D printing brings time savings.
Of particular interest in the new energy vehicle sector is the potential for 3D printing technology in the electric motor sector.
Electric motors used in new energy vehicles include DC motors, induction motors, permanent magnet synchronous motors and switched reluctance motors. At present, permanent magnet synchronous motor system is becoming the mainstream of electric motor for new energy vehicles, which has the advantages of high power density and wide speed range, and the future electric motor system for new energy vehicles is developing in the direction of permanent magnetization, digitalization and integration.
For additive manufacturing of electromagnetic materials, four types of 3D printing systems are most used, including powder bed melting metal 3D printing systems (electron beam EB-PBF and laser L-PBF melting), binder jet metal 3D printing, directed energy deposition (DED) metal 3D printing and various similar extrusion-based methods, most commonly fused deposition modeling (FDM).
The combination of increasingly reliable insulating materials, more efficient electrical and magnetic conductors, new permanent magnet alloys, and cost-effective manufacturing and processing methods are making more powerful and complex electric motor designs available to the end consumer.
If electric motors are as important to new energy vehicles as engines are to fuel vehicles, batteries are as important to new energy vehicles as gasoline. Undoubtedly, another noteworthy application of 3D printing in new energy vehicle manufacturing is 3D printed batteries.
Overall, 3D printing will bring a degree of change to the manufacturing of structural parts, electric motors, and batteries for automobiles. limitations of 3D printing technology into industrialization include speed, forming size, cost, and quality consistency. In the future, the development of 3D printing technology will break through the current limitations and move towards higher speed, better process control, and more suitable material applications. With the rapid development of 3D printing technology, the changes it brings to the manufacturing of new energy vehicles will be more refreshing.