Volkswagen plans to use 3D technology to produce automotive functional metal parts. Volkswagen officials also stated that they will cooperate with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and GKN Powder Metallurgy to develop new 3D printing technology to increase the production rate of parts while ensuring quality.
The result of the cooperation between Volkswagen and GKN and HP is a structural large-scale 3D printing technology that can be put into production as early as next year. This technology makes the powder and the binder one layer at a time, and then sends it to sintering to finally form the finished part. This method is different from the laser melting process commonly used in ordinary metal 3D printing.
Volkswagen may use the HP Metal Jet printer to "print" demanding high-performance features such as shift knobs and mirror mounts. There are even lightweight metal parts printed with stringent safety certifications. But many people dream of a complete car print, and Volkswagen says it has a plan for the time being.
What are the advantages of sophisticated 3D printing?
The biggest advantage of 3D printing is the flexibility of the production process. Compared with the traditional method, it can turn various conceptual designs into physical objects more quickly, which simplifies the production process of complex molds. It is very conducive to reducing research and development costs and shortening the product launch cycle. It can also print on demand and reduce inventory backlog. However, the current 3D printing technology is still not mature (there is almost no way for automotive metal force parts). Only through unremitting technical improvements can it be truly widely adopted by the automotive industry on a large scale.