As a matter of fact, the application of 3D printing in the automotive industry is ready to develop and has a bright future. Nowadays, many automobile manufacturers have already completed the prototype development and design verification in the automotive R & D stage through 3D printing. It can be said that 3D printing can be used in the aspects of modeling review, design verification, complex structural parts, multi-material composite parts, lightweight structural parts, customized special tooling, after-sales personalized replacement parts, etc The application is gradually adopted by more and more automobile manufacturers.
Many automobile manufacturers use 3D printing to manufacture various molds, fixtures, etc. for assembly and manufacturing process. Customization of high-end cars is very important for many potential buyers, because customization allows them to get a car that is more suitable for their requirements. For car enthusiasts, 3D printing opens up another imagination space in the field of after-sales car modification. The combination of McLaren 720s and 3D printing technology is a fresh case.
In general, body kits are always wrapped around the bottom of the car, so the parts required are large and take weeks to build with traditional technology. In this regard, McLaren project researchers carried out research, and used large-scale resin 3D printer to print parts, and printed all components into one in a short 140 hours. Such parts are designed based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to achieve the best ergonomics, which plays a particularly important role in sports cars, because it directly affects the performance of racing cars. For aerodynamic components, many of the original components have been replaced by 3D printing technology parts, including rear wing, hood, outer door wing and bumper.
The project leader said that the results of manufacturing McLaren 720s parts using 3D printing technology are impressive, not only can the production be carried out faster and more efficiently, but also the quality is improved. 3D technology makes every 1016 industry part more accurate, and each part is printed in real proportion to verify our CAD and CFD work. Using 3D printing technology saves nearly 10 weeks of time and 60% of the development budget, greatly reducing the R & D cycle and cost.
Compared with the traditional manufacturing process, the advantage of 3D printing technology is that it can use computer software to input data, and use 3D printing technology equipment to manufacture complex parts. In terms of improving manufacturing precision and reducing product development cycle time, 3D printing technology is basically irreplaceable.
3D printing technology greatly improves the efficiency of R & D of auto parts. In the actual operation process, the R & D of auto parts often takes a long time. From product development to product testing, it takes a long time and costs a lot to manufacture various parts and moulds. Once the developed parts do not meet the actual requirements, it will take time to change the structure of the parts.
In order to improve the manufacturing process of auto parts, many researchers have carried out repeated exploration and experiment, and regard 3D printing technology as a new way to try. In fact, 3D printing technology can quickly produce complex parts. When there is a problem in the parts test, the R & D personnel can change the relevant documents through the computer and reprint, which solves the shortcomings caused by the use of CNC machine tools or manual production in the traditional automobile parts product development mode.
3D printing technology plays a key role in the development and final parts, which proves its cost efficiency. The 3D printing process not only makes the product development and production process faster and more efficient, but also improves the product quality. 3D printing technology has gradually become an important driving force to accelerate the transformation of traditional manufacturing industry towards intelligent mode, and its diversified application in the automotive field has become an inevitable trend.
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