The 3D printing business units of the global chemical giants, BASF Forward AM, Formnext, demonstrated the latest updates and developments in its products in the automotive field, which is still one of the largest user industries for additive manufacturing solutions in the world.
This year, the company partnered with Photocentric to demonstrate its development in demanding automotive applications and new advances in the use of lattice optimization, TPU and PP materials, and photopolymer production scale solutions. For an overview of automobile development, Christian Reinhardt, Forward AM`s Transportation Business Development Manager, presented use cases and actual parts virtually at this year`s only digital event.
The company has been committed to the development of specialized materials and parts, including 3D printed functional prototypes, interior trims, spare parts, safety aids and assembly fixtures. Obviously, BASF is not interested in developing its own hardware, so BASF provides solutions for automotive additive manufacturing through special materials (usually developed with open platform printer manufacturers) and application development with end users (for feasibility analysis) Solutions, small series production, or through production partners or service/solution providers. These include Materialiseise, Shapeways or Sculpteo, the latter being a French service provider acquired by BASF this year.
Just in June of this year, Sculpteo announced new products of high-performance materials, including BASF's PA6, PP and TPU, specifically for automotive applications. Smartech noticed that in the trend of applying polymer materials, from nylon or ABS to TPU and PP materials in the automotive industry.
Although there are a variety of materials and requirements in automotive applications, BASF has identified key components and materials in traditional automotive manufacturing and has developed 3D printing materials that can be used in a variety of applications, such as polypropylene (PP) for decorative materials. ), PA used in the fuel system or components under the car. Engine covers for instrument panels, instrument panels, bumpers, lighting, door handles, etc., ABS, PMMA or PC materials. However, Reinhardt pointed out that although there are hundreds of polyamides traditionally used in injection molding, there are very few polyamides used for 3D printing. It is also important to ensure that the 3D printing material provides the same or better performance than the injection molded material.
Although the materials and technologies of additive manufacturing are still catching up with traditional methods and materials, BASF believes that the level of technical readiness (TRL) and the current usage rate are already very high, which can be used for design or functional prototypes, personalization, safety aids, robotic fixtures And assembly fixtures. BASF believes that 3D printing is still becoming more mature in parts applications, and foam or lattice printing for special series applications.
BASF and Hymer, one of Europe`s leading manufacturers of motorhomes and caravans, have jointly developed a future-oriented concept camper: VisionVenture, which uses more than 20 different innovative materials provided by BASF and has Features such as self-expanding pop-up roof, lightweight natural stone facade, and more than 100 3D printed parts. In this case, BASF demonstrated its solution to solve the high cost and effectiveness of 3D printing prototypes. For concept projects, few tools can be used to design or manufacture unique parts, and 3D printing has become a viable solution for manufacturing complex and unusual conceptual designs. With Photocentric's photopolymer 3D printing solution, BASF can cut costs by nearly half compared to comparable traditional technologies, while still providing the required performance, smoothness and quality.
In the functional prototype, BASF Functional Materials provided a solution for the inverter housing, which is usually made of aluminum and 3D printed using plastic-among other advantages, the weight of the component is also reduced by 50% . However, the component also needs to be shielded from electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, in this case, the plastic part has a metal coating, and BASF`s Ultrasint PA6 MF is the only powder tested, which can still be used during the metallization process of this application. Survived.
The most interesting case presented is the engine mount developed in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz. In the automobile manufacturing industry, when the chassis and engine are assembled together, it is usually called a "wedding". In a classic wedding, the two partners are connected through love, and even more importantly, power. In this case, the strong hobby of connecting two partners (engine and chassis) is the engine mount.
Whenever a new chassis or engine design is developed, the engine bracket connecting the two also needs to be adjusted. During the test drive, the traditional engine bracket manufacturing method was not ready or could not be used, so the 3D printed parts must have the same performance as the PA 6.6 GF50 series products. BASF has successfully used its PA6 MF material for this application, and the performance of its components is as excellent as its injection molded products.
Interestingly, although the mechanical properties of PA6 MF are worse on the technical data sheet compared with PA6.6 GF50, BASF can still optimize the design by adding more materials to achieve the same performance. As Reinhardt pointed out, this is one of the few AM use cases to optimize 3D printed parts. Heavier than traditional parts, but provide comparable or better performance.
In another application, the front-facing car is equipped with fluid containers, non-critical parts with complex geometries, and 3D printing using different materials to control high temperatures and/or have chemical resistance. BASF has developed a method that can divide the fluid container into two parts for 3D printing, and weld them with a strength similar to that of the base material.
Foam is almost impossible to produce in a single piece and has different mechanical properties in different areas. By using TPU material and lattice structure, BASF can design customized lattices and foams with adjustable properties according to the required support (seats, armrests, headrests, lumbar protectors, etc.) and according to different support requirements. Customized behavior response.
The company also introduced its flexible spray coating to change the color and appearance of 3D printed TPU parts. BASF Coatings and Forward AM developed this flexible coating together. There are currently four colors to choose from. The coating has passed the Rossflex bending test and its performance is the same as that of 3D printed TPU parts.
For automotive parts applications, BASF owns award-winning start-ups from its business incubator division Chemovator. The startup called Replique is working on developing a decentralized, end-to-end workflow and parts 3D printing market.
Their platform will enable OEMs to upload designs and print them close to customers or suppliers under encryption protection, and enable users to leverage BASF`s design, engineering and printing expertise to develop digital warehouses or market solutions Program.