Bugatti Titatinum 3D printed Caliper.

[aus]

It takes 45 hrs to print each caliper. Looks freaky


https://www.autoblog.com/2018/01/23/...usauto00000016



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[JsL]

It does looks like something from Alien.

Btw, How does metal 3d printing work? Is that a fancier way of saying cnc machine?

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by JsL

Btw, How does metal 3d printing work? Is that a fancier way of saying cnc machine?

i was wondering the same thing... maybe something like tiny laysers of microscopic welds?

[GMWNashville]

Thats sick!

[dparm]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i was wondering the same thing... maybe something like tiny laysers of microscopic welds?

Originally Posted by JsL

It does looks like something from Alien.

Btw, How does metal 3d printing work? Is that a fancier way of saying cnc machine?

From Reddit:



In short:

you have a table with a thin layer of metal powder (copper, iron, aluminium...), then an LASER melts the metal powder where you want your finished peace to be solid. After that the table moves down a little bit and a new layer of powder is placed above the welded layer. Then the cycle begins again, the new layer gets melted at the regions you need it and moves down...

tl;dr : LASERS

[roastbeef]

ok, so its kinda like welding, then they have to machine the piston housing and fluid routing.

[Richbot]

3D printed/additive manufacturing Ti parts are already launching stuff into space

[jritt@essex]

Impressive tech to be sure, and it looks very similar to AP Racing's Radi-CAL designs. For reference, the current Bugatti Chiron caliper is made by AP Racing and pictured below. We had one come through our facility a while back on its way to a trade show. I lined it up with one of the CP9660 calipers we use in our Essex/AP Racing BBK's. It was a big dog.

[cenix]

Very badass. The ugliness of the caliper makes it look awesome, but moreso because it's 4 lbs lighter and more rigid than the previous caliper. Serious engineering.

[drrust]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

ok, so its kinda like welding, then they have to machine the piston housing and fluid routing.

The fluid routing would likely be built in. The piston well likely would need some finishing.

Down the road from me GE is 3D printing components for jet turbines. In talking with some engineers there, it seems that building in various channels for cooling is one advantage of 3D printing.

Given the same geometry not sure if a 3D printed part would have same strength as a forged component. Forged wheels are stronger than cast as an example.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

ok, so its kinda like welding, then they have to machine the piston housing and fluid routing.

Technically it's laser sintering. They may need to machine key areas since the process leaves a grainy finish, but that's not terribly difficult.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct...aser_sintering


One of the big benefits with this is they won't need to make molds which are expensive and wear out. The end-to-end production time (design, testing, validating, tweaking, manufacturing, etc) is hypothetically much faster.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by drrust

The fluid routing would likely be built in. The piston well likely would need some finishing.

Down the road from me GE is 3D printing components for jet turbines. In talking with some engineers there, it seems that building in various channels for cooling is one advantage of 3D printing.

Given the same geometry not sure if a 3D printed part would have same strength as a forged component. Forged wheels are stronger than cast as an example.

Might be an optical illusion, but it looks a little bit rough. I would think they would extrude hone it or something. I'm just guessing I could be completely wrong.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Might be an optical illusion, but it looks a little bit rough. I would think they would extrude hone it or something. I'm just guessing I could be completely wrong.

It's not an illusion: that process doesn't give a smooth finish. It will look gritty.

[drrust]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Might be an optical illusion, but it looks a little bit rough. I would think they would extrude hone it or something. I'm just guessing I could be completely wrong.

Forgive my internet grammar. The term "piston well" is was intended to mean the cylinder wall of the caliper. That would need to be finish machined. However, it looks like it ends up as a single piece so the honing process would not be as straightforward as a "split" caliper. Seems that similar tooling would be available for "monoblock" calipers.

The internal holes for the fluid would likely be designed in, at least that is touted as a great advantage of 3D printing. The threads for the brake line would also likely be cut/finished after printing.

No doubt that for a small production item 3D printing is more cost effective. Also it may allow for difficult to work materials to be used. However, materials develop structures that can add or subtract strength depending on the manufacturing process. Parts design should balance functionality and cost. For high volume items piece rates can be higher with traditional manufacturing methods at least for today.