Plastic Innovations: 3D printing

Advanced Plastics are the Future of Our Autos

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From high-end sports cars to your everyday minivan, plastics have revolutionized the automotive industry. Some of the newest, most cutting-edge vehicles—such as those displayed at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show—can give us a glimpse at how plastics will continue to “drive” future automotive innovation.

These vehicles represent significant advances in manufacturing, safety, design, performance, and fuel efficiency, and they all have something in common: advanced plastics.

Manufacturing
Not so long ago, plastics inspired automakers to rethink the materials they use for their vehicles—and now, plastics are actually bringing about the evolution of the manufacturing process itself. Plastics are well suited for 3-D printing (also known as additive manufacturing), a process in which layer upon layer of material is built up to form an object—a car part, in this instance. This process can create less waste than traditional manufacturing techniques that strip away material from a larger piece. Plus, it gives manufacturers the flexibility to produce more creative or custom designs.

Quick history: Local Motors was one of the first to 3-D print an electric car, called Strati, which is made with a plastic composite called carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP). The process of 3-D printing the Strati with CFRP is quite efficient—it takes only a couple days to print the body of the vehicle, which is manufactured as one large piece. Considering that traditionally manufactured cars can contain tens of thousands of painstakingly assembled parts, that’s a big deal—with great potential for improved efficiency, cost savings, and convenience in auto manufacturing.

At the recent LA Auto Show, Local Motors featured Olli, an autonomous, electric vehicle made with 3-D printed thermoplastics. Olli seats multiple people for a ride sharing experience like no other, in particular because the vehicle integrates the advanced cognitive computing capabilities of IBM Watson. Hop in and ask it for recommendations for dinner or a sightseeing spot, then sit back and relax as Olli takes you there. In addition to being lightweight and efficiently powered, many parts can be recycled at the end of Olli’s lifespan due to its plastic construction—all of which means Olli just might represent the future of eco-friendly public transit.

Vehicle Design and Performance
Advanced plastics also help enable innovations in vehicle design and performance. For the Chevy 2017 Corvette Z06, the automaker created an aesthetic that’s distinctively bold and super sleek, employing unique design elements that use durable plastics molded into the body of the vehicle. Looking for a performance boost to go with that stylish design? Rest assured: plastics help make this car lightweight and aerodynamic, which contributes to improved speed and handling.

Another example: designers of the Cadillac CT6 created its hood, splitter, and wheel spats using CFRP, high-performance materials with truly exceptional strength-to-weight ratios. Not only are these design elements very cool-looking and super lightweight, but they actually enhance the performance of the vehicle; the splitter, for example, forces low-pressure air underneath the car to maintain traction at high speeds. Some car companies also make spoilers and air dams, which are designed to help performance, with CFRP.

Fuel Efficiency
“…today’s vehicles are comprised of approximately 50 percent plastics by volume but only 10 percent plastics by weight.”
Modern, fuel-efficient cars have come a long way since the heavy gas-guzzlers your parents or grandparents drove. Among other reasons, that’s because heavier materials are being replaced with lightweight and durable plastics, so much so that today’s vehicles are comprised of approximately 50 percent plastics by volume but only 10 percent plastics by weight. Automakers are increasingly “lightweighting” their vehicles by using innovative plastics and plastic composites such as CFRP, helping them meet fuel-efficiency goals while also enhancing performance and safety.

A couple of very high-performance examples displayed at the LA Auto Show: the front splitter and rear diffuser in the stylish Aston Martin Vanquish S. These lightweight, aerodynamic components help improve fuel efficiency, leading to more miles with less fuel while generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

So … advanced plastics = improved fuel efficiency and performance. It’s a win-win-win-win-win. As Ford Motor Company said: “Few innovations provide a more wide-ranging performance and efficiency advantage than reducing weight. All factors of a vehicle’s capabilities—acceleration, handling, braking, safety, efficiency—can improve through the use of advanced, lighter materials.”

The Road Ahead
Not so long ago, technologies such as 3-D printing, self-driving vehicles, and super-lightweight, aerodynamic car parts might have seemed a bit like science fiction. But thanks to advanced plastics, your custom 3-D printed car—or maybe your first ride in a fully autonomous public transit vehicle—may be closer than you think.

For more than half a century, plastics have enabled automakers to dream up amazing new technologies and bring them to life. We can only imagine what automotive innovations the next half century will usher in, but one thing’s for sure: plastics will continue to make many of them possible.

Reference to any automobile manufacturer or display of any associated product is for descriptive purposes only, and does not imply sponsorship, endorsement or association with ACC or its PMIP campaign.

Advanced Plastics are the Future of Our Autos

From high-end sports cars to your everyday minivan, plastics have revolutionized the automotive industry. Some of the newest, most cutting...

3D-printed carbon fiber car took 44 hours to print – Teijin moulds in 1 minute

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3D-printed carbon fiber car took 44 hours to print – Teijin moulds in 1 minute</h1>
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Latest developments in manufacturing carbon fiber car parts</h1>
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<li style="-webkit-appearance: none; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px;">Teijin moulds complete carbon fiber car body in only 1 minute</li>
<li style="-webkit-appearance: none; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px;">Printing of world’s first 3d printed car took roughly 40 hours</li>
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Teijin moulds complete carbon fiber car body in only 1 minute</h2>
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In 2011 already, <span style="-webkit-appearance: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.teijin.com/" style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Teijin</a></span></span> introduced a 4-seater concept car with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic (CFRTP) body structure. The body was formed in one minute and weighs only 47kg, merely a fifth of a comparable steel structure. This was the first real step towards mass production of car bodies made from carbon fiber reinforced composites. Conventional thermoset-formed carbon fiber composites are rarely used in mass production due to their long cycle time.</div>
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The company tackled this problem by developing a thermoplastic resin that softens when heat is applied and quickly hardens when it cools, without losing its desirable properties. The material can also be recycled and reused. Teijin has branded this world’s first CFRTP technology as Sereebo (an acronym for Save the Earth, Revolutionary & Evolutionary Carbon), and is now in the progress of bringing it closer to commercial high-volume production.</div>
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Teijin is currently working with automakers worldwide, including General Motors, to accelerate the development of Sereebo-branded composites. Technical facilities in both Japan and the USA and a pilot plant in Japan further support the development of this technology. Collaborative developments with consumer electronics makers and precision equipment makers are also in progress, and Nikon has already adopted Sereebo to manufacture structural parts for a digital SLR camera.</div>
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Printing of world’s first 3d printed car took roughly 40 hours</h2>
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At the recent <a class="hashtag hashcore_hashtag_link" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: rgb(0, 116, 162) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">#IMTS</a> the world’s first 3D-printed carbon fiber car was produced. And on Saturday 13. September, after 40 hours of printing, the first test drive took place. This fully functional vehicle was printed from scratch and assembled by <span style="-webkit-appearance: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.plastics.gl/category/automotive/" style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">automotive</span></a></span></span> design firm Local Motors. This event showcased a long-awaited solution to a major manufacturing challenge: how to avoid the significant investments in tooling and time necessary to produce large free form designs. Local Motors collaborated with Cincinnati Incorporated, a large-scale manufacturing system builder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a player in advanced materials research, and SABIC to develop and validate the technology and materials needed to deliver large format 3D printing technology.</div>
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As material SABIC’s LNP STAT-KON carbon fiber-reinforced compound was chosen. It features very good strength-to-weight ratio and high stiffness, which minimizes warping during the 3D printing process. The 3D printer was in fact a so-called BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) machine of Cincinnati which prints polymer components 200-500 times faster and 10 times larger than today’s additive manufacturing machines.</div>
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Here are some key information about BAAM, including working principle, extrusion rates, layer thicknesses and the range of materials that can be used (Source: PT-Plastics Technology): <span style="-webkit-appearance: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.ptonline.com/blog/post/big-area-additive-manufacturing-stars-at-imts" style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">click here</a></span></span></div>
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At Local Motors every new design starts from the community, i.e. from the community of designers, engineers and fabricators. This give a richer input of creativity than they can get just from an internal team. The concept vehicle event, for example, stemmed from a Local Motor’s Design Challenge which resulted in the submission of over 200 entries from 30+ countries. The winning concept, <a class="hashtag hashcore_hashtag_link" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-appearance: none; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">#Strati</a>, inspired the full sized 3D-printed prototype.</div>
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3D-printed carbon fiber car took 44 hours to print – Teijin moulds in 1 minute

3D-printed carbon fiber car took 44 hours to print – Teijin moulds in 1 minute Latest developments in manufacturing carbon fiber car pa...

3D printing with standard plastic pellets

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3D printing with standard plastic pellets</h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_S50JXJMbyye_yq-Gi_h-wVgFlALOr5joZnNF8JIejo3s006whSLxmlr3UobrGrhZqS0YnkD1YIIzkSgpA1o4uTB8DgXrTY2teP5eVR1ID1RYvXxkCJ_my8X6a-JBlmcWt-TiRB9utPd/s1600/David-Iso+-+lo+res.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_S50JXJMbyye_yq-Gi_h-wVgFlALOr5joZnNF8JIejo3s006whSLxmlr3UobrGrhZqS0YnkD1YIIzkSgpA1o4uTB8DgXrTY2teP5eVR1ID1RYvXxkCJ_my8X6a-JBlmcWt-TiRB9utPd/s1600/David-Iso+-+lo+res.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_S50JXJMbyye_yq-Gi_h-wVgFlALOr5joZnNF8JIejo3s006whSLxmlr3UobrGrhZqS0YnkD1YIIzkSgpA1o4uTB8DgXrTY2teP5eVR1ID1RYvXxkCJ_my8X6a-JBlmcWt-TiRB9utPd/s1600/David-Iso+-+lo+res.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #292929; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.996000289917px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_S50JXJMbyye_yq-Gi_h-wVgFlALOr5joZnNF8JIejo3s006whSLxmlr3UobrGrhZqS0YnkD1YIIzkSgpA1o4uTB8DgXrTY2teP5eVR1ID1RYvXxkCJ_my8X6a-JBlmcWt-TiRB9utPd/s1600/David-Iso+-+lo+res.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">3D printers operating on the fused layer deposition (FLD) principle are fed with plastic filament to generate objects. Butas is the case with the traditional 2D ink jet printer, cartridges tend to be costly. Now, a Columbus-based startup is planning to transform the status quo with a new type of printer that can operate using standard plastic pellets fed from a continuously fillable hopper.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #292929; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.996000289917px; text-align: left;">The David 3D printer from </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Stephen/Google%20Drive/PT%20to%20file/Sculptify/sculptify.com" style="color: #104a91; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.996000289917px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Sculptify</a><strong style="color: #292929; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.996000289917px; text-align: left;"> </strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #292929; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.996000289917px; text-align: left;">(Columbus, OH) utilizes fused layer extrusion (FLEX) technology to create objects from a wide range of pelletized materials including polylactide (PLA), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), and ABS. According to Sculptify, the 1-kg bags of PLA pellets optimized for use with David will ship for $18, whereas a 1-kg spool of plastic normally costs roughly $48.</span></div>
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A 10 kg bag of optimized ABS pellets will sell for $18 as well, while EVA and TPU will be priced at $22 per 1-kg bag. Sculptify is currently optimizing HIPS, HDPE, polyamide (PA), polycarbonate (PC) and wood composite.</div>
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Sculptify notes that users do not need to buy pellets from its website since they are widely available and can be found on many 3D printing and plastic supply websites in varying types and sizes. However, there are certain grades, sizes, and shapes that are optimal for use with David, and there are some that simply won't work with the system. On this account, pellets will also be available through the Sculptify store to give those who do not want to experiment proven material options for everyday printing.</div>
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"David provides customers with the freedom to choose from an extensive selection of materials - which range from hard and durable to soft and flexible. By eliminating the dependence on filament, Sculptify can offer exotic materials and composites never before used in 3D printing," said Luke Daniel, Director of Business Development.</div>
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David possesses a build volume of 20 x 22 x 18.5 cm, with nozzle sizes of 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm included. Layer resolution in the case of PLA is 20 microns. Positioning precision is reportedly 8 microns or better in the XY axis and 3 microns or better in the Z axis direction.</div>
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"David is an incredibly versatile device, that can be used by both consumers and prosumers alike," said Slade Simpson, Sculptify Co-Founder and CEO. "Sculptify believes that for 3D printing to reach its fullest potential, printers need to be able to serve hundreds of different purposes. We think that FLEX technology is the next logical step in making this possible."</div>
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"We think that FLEX printing is going to open the door to hundreds of new applications in both the consumer and commercial sectors because of the unique, and growing material library - we are venturing into a new realm of 3D printing," said Todd Linthicum, President and Co-Founder. David features both groundbreaking technology and commercial-grade components, all specifically designed to provide versatility, speed, and accuracy. Further, a removable print platform and easy loading system reportedly makes David as easy to use as it is powerful.</div>
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3D printing with standard plastic pellets

3D printing with standard plastic pellets 3D printers operating on the fused layer deposition (FLD) principle are fed with plastic filam...

Plastic Innovations

Advanced Plastics are the Future of Our Autos

3D-printed carbon fiber car took 44 hours to print – Teijin moulds in 1 minute

3D printing with standard plastic pellets

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