3D printing technology is regarded by some manufacturing companies as one of the internal driving forces of "Industry 4.0", and this technology has also started to be more widely used in the automotive field. Recently, a 3D printed engine mount displayed by BASF 3D Printing Solutions Co., Ltd. (B3DPS) at Formnext 2019 has attracted industry attention. It is reported that this product was developed in cooperation with BASF and Daimler.
3D printed engine bracket
According to reports, this engine mount uses the polyamide series material Ultrasint® PA6 MF, which has good rigidity and can exhibit excellent printing performance on high-temperature printers. In the past, the production of engine mounts according to traditional molds was often difficult to adapt to a wide range of needs, and could not be matched with many types of automobiles, and the entire production process took a long time and was costly. If 3D printing technology is used to produce automobile brackets, it can achieve the purpose of saving time, efficiency and safety. In addition, 3D printing technology has also created conditions for the entire automotive industry to realize the transformation of automation and intelligent manufacturing.
Daimler expects that 3D printing technology will increase its ability to manufacture medium-sized parts, without the costs associated with manufacturing or purchasing tools, and without the need to hire additional production line workers, which can save up to 50% over current manufacturing methods %the cost of. In fact, other automakers are gradually adopting 3D printing technology to produce small-scale and more complex parts, including some molds and prototypes. For example, GM uses 3D printing technology to make tools for its factories; Ford will use 3D printed parts in the new Shelby GT500.