48 TECH FOCUS: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING “I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE PRINCIPLE OF A FOUNDRY IN A BOX” ROB HIGHAM, FOUNDER, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS 1 A dditive manufacturing’s speed, flexibility and innovative nature – new technologies and materials are widening the pallet all the time – have long since taken it beyond the motorsport wind tunnel. For a new generation of engineers that’s never had to worry about parting lines, AM is normal, not novel. But for some, AM still hasn’t entirely delivered on its promise. Robert Higham has a metal AM background in aerospace with Airbus and in motorsport and manufacturing education at the University of Bolton. He’s now building a business, Additive Manufacturing Solutions (AMS), to foster the industrialization of AM by improving education, supporting R&D and making the technology more sustainable. “Like many people with my background,” he says, “I fell in love with the principle of a foundry in a box; a fridge with lasers could change the world. But it’s hard work making parts and knowing what to monitor and measure. You must understand the process of turning a material into a new material, to then turn it into a part. You’re adding complexity to this process, so you’re adding cost. There are lots of challenges, but fundamentally the machines are expensive, the materials are expensive and it’s super difficult to do.” + + Case studies 1 Sauber roll hoop Sauber uses AM for its Alfa Romeo F1 roll hoops, which are printed in Scalmalloy, although other constructors print hoops in titanium. The hoop takes three days to print and is built to withstand a 12-ton load. 3 University of Bolton Formula Student 2 Alpine F1 Team Alpine is using 3D Systems’ Figure 4 eggshell molding process to 3D-print sacrificial tooling for parts such as grommets, seals and gaskets that are made from silicones and polyurethanes. Eggshell-AMB 10 is a rigid plastic engineered to withstand injection at high temperature and pressure, but also to break away easily after casting. The university is AMS founder Rob Higham’s former employer and an AMS partner. Its Formula Student upright was designed via generative design in Autodesk Fusion 360 with some additional alterations in nTopology. It was printed in AlSi10Mg via LPBF on an SLM 500. The standard machined upright and attachments came to around 6kg per corner; AM enablement lowered the mass to 1.3kg per corner. Further optimization and a more advanced alloy such as Scalmalloy would drop the figure below 1kg. The students involved will take this learning into a variety of motorsport settings. 4 Toyota GR86 Cup From prototype to production Motorsport is a low-volume business that inevitably pays a premium for high performance, especially at the top level. Nevertheless, with budget caps in play from Formula 1 downward, cutting the price per AM part is as important as it is in any other manufacturing process. Productionizing AM, whether for metal or polymer parts, remains a work in progress. But there are signs of light. According to Allen Kreemer, senior strategic applications engineer at Stratasys, motorsport is paying increased attention to the production possibilities of AM. 2023 | www.pmw-magazine.com Toyota Racing Development (TRD) is working with Stratasys on more than 30 parts for this North American one-make series. Most are made in-house at TRD in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Stratasys FDM machines, but the interior door handle surrounds and brake-line stays use the new SAF technology at Stratasys Direct Manufacturing in Belton, Texas. 2