Porsche and GM Have Obtained Achievement in 3D Printing Auto Parts Technology

Porsche just announced that it would return to Le Mans with a surprising new prototype, and we can't wait to know its price. Although motorsport is a very important part of Porsche, as the world shifts towards a greener lifestyle, motorsport is always looking for innovative ways.
 
One way manufacturers have been seeking to develop technology in cars is to use 3D printing, and the possibilities are endless. In fact, German amazing machine manufacturers like Taycan have now used this technology to create the first complete housing for electric drives.

The success of Chevrolet on the racing track, the special exhaust system of Bugatti and the fact of  the technology even being used to make wheels, we already know the benefits of 3D printing. Porsche has listed many benefits for its new electric drive housing, claiming that the new alloy housing is about 10% lighter than traditional die castings. Porsche has proven that there is no problem with the printed pistons of the 911 GT2 RS. This is just a way for Porsche to prove the advantages of 3D printing.
 
Falk Heilfort, a senior development project manager for Porsche Powertrain, said that the new housing proved additive manufacturing to be also applicable to great, highly stressed components in electric sports cars. Porsche said that optimized electric drives could be used for limited edition super sports cars. This ruled out the possibility of quickly installing the printed shell on a conventional production car. However, the assembly workload was reduced, because the rigidity was doubled. The quality of new parts was improved. It was only a matter of time to become affordable and feasible for the shells.
 
The new housing is also more compact, which can easily meet the exact requirements for engineers, and even improve the cooling of the entire drive unit. This is a brand new world, and companies like Porsche are learning how to make the most of it.
 
In the future, GM models will use more 3D printed parts.
General Motors has just announced that a new factory would be set up to fully dedicated to 3D printing, validating the additive manufacturing technology for new uses in prototype manufacture and production. However, this does not mean that GM will print next Chevrolet Traverse. It is conceivable that future GM cars may contain some 3D printed components, or use more 3D printed prototypes and tools for design and manufacturing. In order to accelerate the adoption of technology, GM’s new 15,000 square foot additive industrialization center is equipped with a total of 24 sets of 3D printers, covering additive manufacturing technologies and including selective laser sintering, selective laser melting, Multi-Jet Fusion and Fused deposition modeling. When we heard the word 3D printing, we tend to think of the last one, which relies on a computer-controlled heating nozzle to lay molten filaments layer by layer.
 
General Motors has been at the forefront of the movement, bringing more 3D printing technology into the manufacturing industry. As early as June, there was news that GM 3D printed an advanced prototype of the new Chevrolet Corvette C8 to ensure that the vehicle was assembled correctly and had enough space to enter certain key areas. Later, the company revealed that the new Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing would use 3D printed parts such as a gear lever logo and a pair of 3D printed HVAC ducts.
 
Audley Brown who is a director in Additive Design and Materials Engineering of General Motors   said that the parts printed for the Cadillac V series models proved how we used additive applications in the right place in the right process and this was just the beginning. In the end, we will see the potential of 3D printed parts in a variety of production applications, from more personalized options for new car buyers to unique accessories and replicas of classic car parts.
 
The benefits of GM's 3D printing are many. Early prototype parts of 3D printing can help automakers check part assembly and make adjustments without having to spend long delivery time or expensive early mold costs. All these contribute to the company's bottom line and the quality of the final product. For example, the GM's 3D printed prototype brake cooling pipe for the C8 Corvette reduces costs by 60% and saves the Corvette team 9 weeks of development time.
 
The GM automaker used additive manufacturing technology to produce nearly a hundred hand tools for manufacturing the new full-size SUV products launched in 2020, which helps to save more than two months of time, and the tool weight only accounts for a small part of tools made from steel or aluminum.