Ford Motor Co is trying its hands on a new form of 3-D printing. The carmaker said that this new form of construction may help solve a structural flaw that limited the widespread adaption of 3-D printing in car manufacturing.
If 3-D printing is used in car making, it would dramatically reduce the costs of transport and logistics. Currently, automakers have to source car parts from a myriad of suppliers all over the world.
However, the most popular use of 3-D printing is not suited for mass production since objects have to be printed one layer on top of another. This makes for a very slow process which inadvertently causes tiny fault lines that creates cracks when subjected to stress.
A solution may be in the horizon and it is being developed by Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company. It is developing a different 3-D printing technology that Ford and other car manufacturers say are very promising.
This new technique projects light continuously through a pool of resin, and then gradually solidifying it onto an overhead platform that slowly lifts the printed object up until it fully forms.
The printing process takes only a fraction of the time that conventional 3-D printing methods consume. According to Ellen Lee, this method also creates solid items that are very similar to those formed by traditional methods of car parts manufacturing. Lee is a leader in Ford Motor's 3-D printing research division.
3-D printed car parts are also being manufactured right now by private companies. One such 3-D car parts manufacturer is Stratasys.
This 3-D printed car parts supplier claims that it can produce resilient prototypes and parts made from high-performance engineering thermoplastics. Its process of printing uses the Fused Deposition Modeling Technology.
Stratasys boasts that they can produce beautiful models that require clear or rubberlike materials having smooth finishes right out of the 3-D printer using PolyJet 3-D printing technology.
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