Five leading applications of global additive manufacturing technology

No matter which new high-end technology, the ultimate destination is to participate in product service, 3D printing is no exception. With the gradual advancement of this technology, 3D printing has been widely used in automobiles, ships, aerospace and electronics, and mechanical products. Today, we have seen that the world's major companies have begun to officially apply 3D printing to their own production and design, and created a wide range of market effects!

Auto parts giant Delphi CLIP 3D printing case analysis

Today, the ultra-fast 3D printing technology CLIP, which was widely promoted in 2015, has already entered the market, but because its manufacturer Carbon has adopted a business model that only rents and sells the M1 3D printer using this technology, this new product is produced. To a certain extent, it is still shrouded in mystery, especially for markets outside the United States. We can only understand this early customer usage from the company in a case-by-case manner. Today, the latest application case for CLIP technology introduced from you is from Delphi Automotive, one of the world's largest auto parts manufacturers. Currently, Delphi is using CLIP 3D printing technology to prototype and is also considering its use for short-term production. Due to the non-layered nature of CLIP technology, M1 is the only 3D printer capable of 3D printing of isotropic parts, which means that the microscopic fibers of the printed 3D objects are evenly oriented in all directions. Moreover, in addition to the UV curing agents commonly found in similar technologies, the photopolymers used in the art include a reactive chemical that can be activated by heat to increase the strength of the printed object. Therefore, CLIP technology not only produces 3D printing speed, but also can generate 3D objects in a few minutes, and the parts printed with M1 3D are similar in physical properties to injection molded parts.

Delphi received its M1 3D printer in the fall of 2015. Due to the above physical properties that CLIP 3D printing technology can achieve, Delphi has been able to use this technology to create functional prototypes. The company claims that this is not possible with the 3D printing platform they used before. Jerry Rhinehart, Delphi's additive manufacturing manager, elaborated on how they used the technology to create functional prototypes: "We are excited to extend our work to functional prototypes with M1 - we have not been able to do this before. One point - and seek new manufacturing opportunities. This is mainly due to the material and mechanical properties that we can achieve with Carbon's technology. Traditional 3D printed materials can only provide the mechanical properties we need to make functions and final parts. About 50% of us. We are currently printing a number of connectors and other electrical components with M1, which will be installed in a fleet of 25 cars for road and verification testing in June this year."

It is reported that Delphi 3D printed parts include wiring grommets, which are printed using Carbon's Polyurethane Elastomer (EPU) material; electrical connectors using rigid polyurethane (RPU); housing (protecting objects during product assembly) ), using flexible polyurethane (FPU). In addition to its mechanical properties, CLIP technology 3D printing has a high surface resolution, which makes the prototype printed with CLIP technology very similar to the final product. In addition, the accuracy of this technology makes it ideal for making objects like electrical connectors, because components like these are often quite complex and have a latch design that is less accurate with less accurate 3D printing. carry out. Today, despite the M1 3D printer Delphi has reduced the cost of manufacturing prototype molds and shortened the waiting time for prototype molds from 6 to 12 weeks to near zero, the car giant is not satisfied, they are considering using them. In the production of the final part. The economics of injection molding provide a solid foundation for the company's high-volume production, and with CLIP, Delphi will be able to further expand its business into new areas that require only small batch production. At the same time, engineers are using the technology to design new products that are impossible to achieve using traditional manufacturing processes.