3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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MOWOG
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3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Via Road & Track this date:

If 3D-printed carbon fiber is the future, it's already here

3D printing is transforming manufacturing. Can it work for cars?

By Michael Frank June 30, 2014 / Photos by Jeong Suh/Bryan Christie Design

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At the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan suggested an idea at once futuristic and intuitive: Automotive components should be quickly and easily replaceable with the help of a 3D printer. The IDx NISMO concept featured removable fenders that could be hypothetically upgraded with the proper conceptual hardware. One obvious implication was that a tech-savvy track rat could print fattened fenders to fit thicker aftermarket rubber; long-term, it promised a world with everything from suspension components to wheels printed on demand. It sounded great. It also sounded like vaporware. Just how realistic is it?

From a production standpoint, 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, has myriad advantages over pieces created by computer-numerical-control (CNC) machine work. The latter requires tremendous time and brain power to design the milling process. Most notably, material cost plummets when you're not cutting shapes from excess material, as you do with any CNC setup. But plastic, the customary media for modern rapid prototyping, lacks the necessary strength-to-weight ratio for most automotive components. So the fiction-to-fact turning point for car parts is the advent of 3D-printable carbon fiber.

Right now, that's actually possible with the brand-new MarkForged Mark One printer, which can print parts from continuous carbon fibers. Previously, only short fibers could be used in 3D printing, which limits strength and stiffness. The Mark One means the 3D-printing process can now create finished parts, not just prototypes, that match the strength and durability of those molded or machined from high-performance composites.

The man behind MarkForged, MIT-educated aerospace engineer Greg Mark, comes from the racing world. His first company, Aeromotions, built carbon-fiber wings for motorsport the old way: laying up material by hand, with huge delays between engineering and manufacturing. And given that every wing was built specifically for each model, the material waste and long delivery time line ensured that even expensive wings barely turned a profit.

But once you can print carbon fiber, the cost model shifts. Manufacturing time evaporates, and iterating and troubleshooting become almost immediate. Schedule a track test, capture data, then build new ground-effects components or bodywork right at the track—just hit "print" and come back four hours later.

That potential has drawn the interest of several Formula 1 teams. "Imagine how quickly they could experiment with different downforce models between races," Mark notes, without naming the interested parties. That nimbleness could also benefit automakers. "You could build an entire car frame in just a week or print suspension components to update a vehicle during its life cycle," Mark says.

Working parts are trickier, but the potential is huge because printed carbon allows for precise construction with a far higher carbon-to-resin ratio. And mass-production applications won't have to make identical parts: With a set of fixed body dimensions and mounting points, manufacturers could build custom interiors while still using factory assembly, by printing bespoke parts right at the line.

For now, buying a replacement fender is still cheaper than printing your own. But three years ago, Mark didn't know he could 3D-print carbon fiber. Who knows what will be possible in 2017.
Some men go crazy; some men go slow. Some men go just where they want; some men never go.

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Cam
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Yep, this really is where manufacturing is heading, and it's coming fast.

*** Warning *** Theoretical concept to follow - not to be taken seriously.

I could easily imagine a scenario where a group of constructors have a base set of parts - engine, drivetrain, suspension, wheels, etc - and turn up to a race track Friday 7am with just that. 8am Friday, you get the briefing and the 'formula' for that race weekend is supplied. Constructors have 24 hours to model, print and build their race car. Saturday is testing, Sunday morning is qualifying and race in the afternoon.

Would it ever be mainstream? Probably not. But with cheap accessible parts, you'd have massive grids with everyone from professionals to amateurs having a go. Almost like a bunch of guys working from their garage to produce race cars...
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MOWOG
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Methinks you have been watching too many episodes of Junkyard Wars, amigo! :D

But your idea would make for some pretty interesting viewing. =D>
Some men go crazy; some men go slow. Some men go just where they want; some men never go.

Racewatcher
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Interesting concept. It makes me wonder though, about fiber orientation and layup for particular strengths in different areas or direction of force.

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Tim.Wright
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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The main hurdle that 3D printing of composites has to overcome is how to get the same or better consolidation with a the same or better fibre to resin ratio as an autoclave cured part.

Looking at the Mark Forged printer, it looks like its also limited to laying the fibres on a flat plane unless you make a mould first.

The fact that its claim is "20x stronger than ABS (plastic) and 5x stronger" suggests that there is still a long way to go before it can make a useable part. Claiming the future is already here is possibly a bit premature.

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I think a more realistic step before 3D printed carbon parts get to a useable stage is that the line between automatic tape laying machines (commonly used to automatically layup wingskins and other aero structures) and 3D printing will blur a bit. If the accuracy of a tape laying machine is increased a lot, and is fed much finer tapes, it could be possible to have it laydown very intricate layups. The downside being you still need an autoclave and a mould.

If we want to go into full dreaming mode - you could imagine 3D printing the mould in steel, printing a layer of PTFE mould release, laying up the part with a tape laying machine and then printing the vacuum bag with valves, then throwing the whole lot into the oven/clave (or quickstep machine, but thats another story).
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MOWOG
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Thanks for that input, Tim. Gives me a clearer idea of the process and its limitations. =D>

I guess the point is that technology is rocketing ahead at a startling pace. Maybe someday in the not too distant future, Cam's vision will actually come to pass. it's awfully fun to think about, even if it remains far fetched at the moment.
Some men go crazy; some men go slow. Some men go just where they want; some men never go.

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Cam
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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I've been looking at getting a 3D printer for some time. Every time I go to lay the cash down, I read about the next gen device in development, and I baulk. I'm not in manufacturing, but the thought of creating your own 'whatever' at home, is awesome. There are massive libraries of 3D models you can simply download and 'print' whatever you want. Combine that with a global cheap marketplace if 3D developers and the sky is endless. So the skill base is almost zero to start producing.

Yes, it will be a while yet before meaningful 'commercial grade' fast, strong, cheap produced 3D printers are readily available. But they're coming. It will be interesting to see how motorsport embraces it, if at all.

As for junkyard wars - 3D style - I'll go you splits in a copyright claim and we'll sell the rights globally? 70/30 sound ok?
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Ignorance is a state of being uninformed. Ignorant describes a person in the state of being unaware
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MOWOG
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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I can do 70%. :D
Some men go crazy; some men go slow. Some men go just where they want; some men never go.

scottracing
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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We are finally getting a 3d printer for the office but it will only produce small abs plastic parts. But it should be suitable for prototyping and small tooling. I already have some small tooling for a bike project lined up but there are still severe limitations with the entire process.
Metallic 3d printing can already be found in a lot of the current f1 cars especially in the engine and hydraulics. But as far as composite 3d printing its a long way off as people have pointed out you need to have a vacuum force while curing to avoid void content. It coulld be very good for making preforms for complex parts, which could be then pressformed or rtm processed. But there are already advanced techniques and machines like fibreforge and quickstep as mentioned above.
But I can see a multiple material process like tim has mentioned above where a 3d printer prints an epoxy material tooling block and then lays the uncured carbon onto it. It could then be vac bagged as normal and cured in a clave or oven.depending on the requirements.

CBeck113
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Just think of the possibilities - the cars have to be crushed and shipped in rubbish bins to the next race, where they are reassembled by these machines - that would be a massive drop in logistic costs! :mrgreen:
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Greg Locock
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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So from Tim's graph they can 3d print a uniaxial layup that is roughly equivalent to not very fancy aluminium.

That is a long way from actual competitive strength/weight ratios

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elFranZ
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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can it work for cars? Who knows, but it surely works for... bikes!

Here is an alternative, yet very interesting, way to exploit 3D printing in composite parts production: printing your part in a water solvable material, then laminating your fiber directly on the printed part. The final step is dissolving your "positive mold" in hot water. Time to market should dramatically drop.
The example in the article shows a motorcycle rear-fork realized with this technique. The final object is empty and made in a single piece, no glueing required (except for metal inserts, of course).

http://www.3ders.org//articles/20140802 ... jects.html

I'd like to try this on a smaller scale using PVA on my RepRap... but using all of those chemicals kinda scares me a bit.

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MOWOG
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Just the thing to add to your 3-D printer capability. A small, desktop CNC machine. :idea:
Some men go crazy; some men go slow. Some men go just where they want; some men never go.

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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Not just quibbling over naming here, but wouldn't "3D loom" be more appropriate?

Not only is it more a accurate description, but looms are made for weaving things, so thinking of it in those terms makes it easier to imagine more complex orientations and layups...?

SlowSteve
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Re: 3-D Printing Of Carbon Fiber Now A Reality.

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Ummmm.....

Why is this viewed as especially revolutionary for F1 racing?

Metallic 3d printing is highly useful for fast part construction. There are some parts which are just not machinable in any practical sense.

However, a carbon fibre tub isn't a challenge that NEEDS 3d printing for the actual carbon. There is a well tested, well proven method for making these (realatively simple ) shapes - you lay them up in moulds. You have CNC mills to make the moulds. Perhaps, when costs and accuracy allows, you might print the moulds. What is the actual NEED to print the fibre? Or you could print a positive mould perhaps, for total loss making - like a complex shaped tube.

And how would that actually work? If you have a complex 3d shape, and you lay up the fibres, what are they going to be laid up ON? Until the stuff is baked it's got no stiffness or stength - even sagging of sub-millimeters will cause problems.

3d printers are great - they will change lots of industries in lots of ways. Printing carbon seems like a solution looking for a problem to solve - the process can already b highly mechanised.

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