Audi plans to use 3D printed metal parts in carmaking
Berlin (dpa) - German carmaker Audi has been experimenting with complex metal parts made by 3D printers and plans to fit them to production cars, reports the engineering website Automobil Produktion.
The metal-printing machine resembles the more widely known 3D printers which push molten plastic through an extruder to build up layers of material.
The equipment at Audi uses a fine metallic powder comprised of beadsless than half the thickness of a human hair to print 3D components in steel and aluminium.
The process is ideal for geometrically complicated parts and the finished product is more dense than cast items.
To showcase the skills and what can be achieved with 3D metal printing, staff recently assembled a 1:12-scale working replica of a historic Auto Union Typ C racing car.
All the metal parts used were fashioned using a 3D printer.
The printer can cope with objects up to 240 millimetres in length and200 mm wide. Audi says larger printing machines are planned.
"Together with our research partner, we keep pushing the envelope when it comes to new manufacturing processes", said Audi's Hubert Watl, who is responsible for tool making.
"One of our aims is to use3D metal parts for regular car production."
