As additive manufacturing (3D printing) is recognized as a crucial production method, more and more enterprises are beginning to apply 3D printing technology to the mass production of parts.
However, there is a common issue in the market: while industrial applications of 3D printing in aerospace and medical fields have taken off, its use in the automotive sector seems to be generally limited to prototype trial production. Through Porsche’s ongoing research and upcoming mass production applications of 3D printing, let’s explore the progress of 3D printing in the automotive industry.
Adjustable Lattice Structures: Customizable Comfort Seats
The seat is the interface for human-vehicle interaction. For high-performance vehicles, the motion control and comfort of the seat are particularly important. Providing drivers with custom seats has long been a standard feature in racing cars.
Porsche is integrating the comfortable experience of custom racing seats into its sports cars, and 3D printing technology provides the technical feasibility for Porsche to achieve comfort performance and customized production of seats.
Internal Cooling Channel Design: Pistons
Porsche has demonstrated a landmark application of additive manufacturing: high-stress drive component pistons produced via powder bed selective laser melting 3D printing technology for the 911 GT2 RS twin-turbocharged engine. In this application, weight reduction through additive manufacturing design is not the only goal; Porsche has also optimized the piston design to make the engine more powerful and efficient.
Lightweight Integrated Cooling Channels
All the advantages of 3D printing additive manufacturing are reflected in this hood. Topological optimization of the lattice structure achieves weight reduction, and cooling channels realize functional integration while saving component assembly time. Compared with parts produced by traditional processes, the hood also has improved rigidity and enhanced part quality.
For more information, please contact Debaolong Seiko. You are also welcome to upload your design to Debaolong Seiko for a quotation.
