The Germans Have Figured Out How to 3-D Print Cars

[MindMover]

The assembly line isn’t going away, but 3-D printing is going to reshape how we make cars. The EDAG Genesis points the way, with an beautifully crafted frame made from a range of materials and inspired by a turtle’s skeleton.

The German engineering firm showed off the Genesis design concept at the Geneva Motor Show as proof that additive manufacturing–EDAG’s fancy term for 3-D printing–can be used to make full-size car components. It’s on an entirely different scale than the tiny, 3-D printed creations coming out of a desktop Makerbot, but it’s also just a frame–a stylized chassis that’s more art than reality.

Before settling on 3-D printing, EDAG tried a few different acronym-heavy options, including selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), and stereolithography (SLA). But after extensive tinkering, the final process they used was a modified version of fused-deposition modeling, or FDM.

EDAG’s robot built the Genesis concept by creating a thermoplastic model of the complex interior, although the company says they could use carbon fiber to make the structure both stronger and lighter. EDAG envisions the Genesis as being surrounded by an exterior frame–likely steel or aluminum–to provide a tough exterior to protect the lattice-like monocoque.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/edag-3-d-printed-car/?mbid=social_twitter

[2banon]

1. interesting.. so I suppose we can presume less of a need to mine ore/ forge steel in the future

at least to meet the demands for auto parts. they'll be made of some sort of carbon fiber wonder what 'elements' go into making carbon fiber. something to research at some point.

[jmowreader]

3. It's made out of polyacrylonitrile fibers

The process involves a shitload of energy: first you heat it to 300 degrees C in air to oxidize it, then put it in argon and heat it to 2500 degrees C to carbonize.

There are three problems with carbon fiber.

First, it's made out of petroleum because the base feedstocks for acrylonitrile are all petrochemicals.

Next, the epoxy that binds it together is also made out of petroleum. Carbon fiber is a fiber-reinforced plastic - think of it as a kind of black fiberglass.

But most important is the way it fails. Metals bend when they fail. Carbon fiber shatters. You can make a Formula 1 car out of it secure in the knowledge that after Grandma drives it to church on Sunday someone is going to take it completely apart and inspect the coachwork. That doesn't happen with street cars.

[2banon]

4. that figures.. should have just realized the term "carbon" is the first clue.

well great. as we struggle to create renewable sources for ENERGY in order to get away from the need to drill/frack/go to war for and over oil, new uses for petroleum product make it's insidious way into technology, the marketplace and infrasture. <big sigh>

[jmowreader]

5. Carbon fiber isn't exactly new

You would still be insane to build a car frame out of it...can you imagine having a suspension component fail during rush hour on the GWB?

[2banon]

6. You raise a good point..

Do you suppose they're just using the 3d printer as template simply for prototype designs, to be replicated with other material?

[jmowreader]

7. Of course!

But in the new modern era, everything will be 3-d printed...because it's better to print one car by high tech means than to make a thousand of them in the same time frame.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. "Additive manufacturing" is the term for 3-D printing

It wasn't made up by EDAG. Shame on Wired.