Ford uses Formlabs’ 3D printers to develop new Electric SUV
Ford Motor Firm has leveraged SLA and SLS 3D printers from Formlabs to prototype a number of parts for its new Electrical Explorer SUV.
The world’s sixth-largest automotive producer, Ford beta-tested Formlabs’ latest 3D printer, the Kind 4, to streamline its automobile design course of. This added to its present Formlabs Kind 3L and Fuse 1+ 30W programs.
The corporate used 3D printing to prototype designs for key parts of its new electrical SUV, together with mirrors, handles, charging ports and dashboard elements. This has reportedly allowed the workshop staff to take extra dangers, unlock advanced designs, and rapidly prototype new design iterations in hours moderately than days.
By streamlining its design course of with additive manufacturing, Ford hopes to ship on its dedication to providing a completely electrical car (EV) lineup in Europe by 2030. The pace of 3D printing is reportedly important to assembly this tight timeframe.
“If we didn’t have entry to additive manufacturing, we’d not have the ability to compete with the opponents, we’d not have the ability to be so quick,” defined Bruno Alves, Additive Manufacturing Professional and Tooling Specialist at Ford.
“Additive manufacturing is essential within the improvement course of. It offers you the chance to supply elements in a short time, very effectively, and scale back prices,” added Sandro Piroddi, Supervisor of the Fast Expertise Middle at Ford.
Ford leverages Formlabs’ new Kind 4
Ford’s PD Merkenich Fast Expertise Middle is the automotive producer’s improvement facility, accountable for designing all passenger automobiles for the European market. Right here, SLS, SLA, FDM and steel 3D printers have lengthy performed a task in producing car prototypes.
Notably, resin 3D printers from Formlabs are enjoying a key function in designing Ford’s newest vary of EVs, together with the Electrical Explorer SUV. SLA 3D printers are primarily utilized in workshops to design prototypes that require a high-quality floor end. These elements additionally have to be produced rapidly to allow fast iterations.
Ford turned one of many first firms to undertake the Kind 4, Formlabs’ latest MSLA 3D printer.
Launched earlier this yr, the Kind 4 affords high-speed 3D printing, reliability, and high quality materials properties. Its accelerated print speeds are a major differentiator from its predecessor, the Kind 3+. The brand new resin 3D printer can full normal print jobs in underneath two hours and boasts vertical speeds of as much as 100 mm/hr.
“The Kind 4 could be very quick, I feel it’s the greatest machine that I’ve seen till now by way of pace. It’s actually an excellent improve in comparison with the earlier fashions,” commented Alves. “It’s simpler to function, so it’s a lot simpler for the operators in our workshop to discover ways to work with the machine and get elements with good high quality.”
Piroddi known as the Kind 4 a “recreation changer” because of its quick 3D printing speeds, permitting Ford’s improvement staff to extend throughput and obtain extra design flexibility. The staff can now fulfil extra requests in underneath 24 hours and ship in a single day shipments of elements to the UK.
SLA 3D printing has performed a key function in validating the design of many exterior and inside elements for the brand new Ford Electrical Explorer. Formlabs’ Kind 3L, a large-format SLA 3D printer, was used to 3D print huge exterior elements in a single piece. This included the rear-view mirror cap, the charging port cowl, and dashboard options.
SLS 3D printing streamlines electrical car prototyping
Ford additionally operates a big suite of SLS 3D printers to check mechanical automobile elements, together with Formlabs’ Fuse 1+ 30W, which might 3D print PA-12 nylon materials. This possesses properties which might be similar to the injection molded mass manufacturing elements.
The corporate was additionally one of many first to beta-test Formlabs’ Fuse Blast automated cleansing and sprucing system. That is mentioned to have accelerated Ford’s prototyping course of by eradicating the necessity for handbook post-processing.
A key benefit of SLS expertise is that it doesn’t require assist buildings, permitting it to 3D print extra advanced designs. As such, the Fuse 1+ 30W was used to supply varied mechanical elements and assemblies for the brand new Explorer. This included the electrical SUV’s advanced charging port, which reportedly couldn’t have been prototyped with every other manufacturing methodology.
“It’s a very advanced design that we aren’t capable of produce in every other method. We can’t mill this half. We can’t use injection molding to supply just a few samples,” acknowledged Alves. “So one of the simplest ways is to print in a cloth that we will take a look at bodily.”
3D printing unlocks in-house injection molding
Ford has additionally mixed conventional manufacturing processes with 3D printed speedy tooling. This permits the staff to find out and choose probably the most appropriate manufacturing course of and materials for various purposes, chopping prices and rising workflow effectivity.
In car crash exams, parts have to be constructed from the identical materials and course of because the mass-produced ultimate half. Plastic elements are usually produced by injection molding, which normally requires expensive and time-consuming steel tooling.
“We see a whole lot of potential utilizing 3D printing inserts for injection molding based mostly on the truth that we will iterate the design very quick. We print cavities in cores after which we will change them within the instrument and inject the elements,” added Alves.
For the brand new Explorer, Ford produced rubber parts for the SUV’s door deal with meeting in-house utilizing 3D printed mildew inserts. Exterior injection molding usually takes two to a few months. Nevertheless, by additively manufacturing the inserts in-house, Ford can full this course of in underneath three weeks. The staff 3D printed the mildew inserts in Inflexible 10K resin on their SLA 3D printers, and Nylon 12 Powder on SLS.
“For this venture, if we had to make use of exterior instruments, it could have been far more time-consuming and we might not have been capable of ship the elements on time,” defined Alves.
Additive manufacturing for automotive purposes
Ford isn’t the one automotive producer integrating additive manufacturing into its design and manufacturing workflow.
Final yr, International industrial 3D printer producer INTAMSYS partnered with printing supplies provider KEXCELLED to supply FDM 3D printing capabilities to the Automotive Division of SIKA in China.
By 3D printing automobile elements, SIKA has seen time and price financial savings of as much as 90% for its automotive prototyping and improvement phases. INTAMSYS’ 3D printing expertise has additionally been leveraged to supply inside and exterior automobile equipment, together with custom-made bumpers, steering wheel take a look at items, racing automobile elements, and tail emblem fixtures.
Elsewhere Japanese automotive multinational Toyota has beforehand adopted the Zortrax M300 Plus to 3D print meeting jigs and fixtures. Adopting the FDM 3D printer has reportedly optimized its car meeting operations, decreasing prices and lead occasions behind manufacturing important instruments and spares.
Toyota’s devoted 3D printing labs, based mostly of their Polish facility, have put in greater than 100,000 zł ($23,000) price of Zortrax tools. The elements at the moment 3D printed on the plant fall into 4 classes: positioning jigs, meeting jigs, meeting instruments, and covers. These elements are sometimes mixed with different parts produced utilizing subtractive processes to kind built-in assemblies.
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Featured picture exhibits the brand new Ford Electrical Explorer. Picture through Ford Motor Firm.