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Industrialization of 3D printing - BMW is making progress!

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Industrialization of 3D printing - BMW is making progress!

The BMW Group is taking the next step in the systematic integration of industrial 3D printing processes. The aim is to industrialize additive manufacturing and to integrate it sustainably into the various areas of the company with an economic benefit. This primarily includes vehicle development and production. With this, the BMW Group wants to take full advantage of the advantages of the technology - such as the quick availability of components, flexibility in design and production without complex tools. Daniel Schäfer, Head of Production Integration and the Pilot Plant at the BMW Group: “Processes such as additive manufacturing help us to accelerate development cycles and thus bring our vehicles to series maturity more quickly. The production times of components are also shortened by 3D printing, while high quality standards are met at the same time. "

3D printed components for small series

Industrialization of 3D printing - BMW is making progress!

Since the middle of this year, the BMW Group has been producing additively manufactured vehicle components made of metal and plastic for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. These are manufactured along the process chain at various locations in the global production network. The components are located in the body of the vehicle and the passenger compartment and are highly functional and stiff. The BMW Group has prepared the process for manufacturing the components in its in-house competence center, the Additive Manufacturing Campus, for use in automotive series production. The plastic components are also manufactured there using the Multi Jet Fusion process and selective laser sintering. At the BMW Group plant in Landshut, the metallic components are currently being manufactured using the selective laser beam melting process. The 3D-printed metal components are almost fully automatically installed in the body during the production process. The plastic components manufactured in the Additive Manufacturing Campus as well as the metallic carrier of the decorative panel will later be installed in the vehicles.

 Component development using generative design

Industrialization of 3D printing - BMW is making progress!

Even in the early phase of vehicle development, engineers, production and materials experts analyzed hundreds of components and checked the extent to which production with additive manufacturing processes can be implemented. The focus is on: advantages in terms of weight and geometry compared to traditional methods as well as the economic benefit. When selecting suitable components for additive series production, the experts defined criteria and requirements for 3D printed components and translated them into “machine language” with the help of data scientists. That was the start of a new AI system that enables the BMW Group to identify potential 3D printed components in future vehicles more quickly and at an earlier stage.

Industrialization of 3D printing - BMW is making progress!

With the use of generative design, the design of components with the help of computer algorithms, shapes are created in a short time that were previously hardly feasible for engineers and designers. Experts and computers work together to design the components so that they can be manufactured with the best possible use of materials. Numerous potential applications can only be turned into reality with the help of generative design. 3D printing technologies are particularly suitable for complex shapes and structures that were previously not possible to manufacture with conventional tools.

Topology-optimized components have been created for the BMW Group, i.e. parts that have once again been significantly improved in terms of form and function due to this design approach. These components have an average of almost 50 percent less weight than comparable, traditionally produced parts. In addition, they can make optimal use of the space available in the vehicle. An example of this is the bracket for the tailgate damper.

Additive manufacturing campus

Since June, the BMW Group has been pooling all of its technological expertise in the Additive Manufacturing Campus near Munich and training employees worldwide to use the processes. In addition, all prototype components are produced here. Up to 80 employees currently work in the competence center and around 50 industrial metal and plastic plants are already in operation. In addition, more than 50 systems are in use at other production sites around the world.

Of course that had not happened yet!

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About Thomas Wachsmuth

Thomas Wachsmuth - He has been an integral part of tuningblog.eu since 2013. His passion for cars is so intense that he invests every available penny in them. While he dreams of a BMW E31 850CSI and a Hennessey 6x6 Ford F-150, he currently drives a rather inconspicuous BMW 540i (G31/LCI). His collection of books, magazines and brochures on the subject of car tuning has now reached such proportions that he himself has become a walking reference work for the tuning scene.  More about Thomas

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