3D printingThe future of fluid power in the digital age is being unlocked, and engineering experts from Aston Martin and Cranfield University have now teamed up with additive manufacturing fluid power parts specialist Domin for a demanding six-month period. The world’s leading active suspension system has been developed in-house.Leveraging Domin’s patented technology, this state-of-the-art system promises to prove3D printingRefresh the new potential of hydraulic control units.
© DOMIN
Design that changes performance
According to the article “Research Status and Development Trend of Automotive Electromagnetic Active Suspension” published by “Heavy Duty Vehicles”, active suspension was proposed by Erspiel Labrossc of GM in suspension design as early as 1954. The frame generally uses a hydraulic or electric force generator (called an actuator) to replace the springs and shock absorbers in the traditional passive suspension, and the active suspension currently used in real vehicles is generally a hydraulic active suspension. shelf. It is mainly composed of hydraulic and electronic control systems.
The need for active suspension
Current suspension systems are large and heavy, and their optimal response occurs only in a narrow frequency range. Changing road surface demands can only be met by a combination of variable damping and spring rates.
The development of this active suspension system was carried out within the FAST (Full Active Suspension Technology) project, which was funded by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles through a network of niche vehicles. Backed by business, education and government, this further strengthens the direction of future suspension systems.
FAST (Fully Active Suspension Technology) aims to make this system the industry standard for luxury driving, with outstanding performance characteristics that differentiate the control units developed in the FAST project from other control units.The new design offers endless damping variability, and the design of the suspension system used in Aston Martin is based on Domin’s patented valve technology, involving3D printingThe valve body core, which contains 25 fluid passages, provides excellent control performance through the synergy of these fluid passages.
The characteristic of the runner curve inside this control unit can only be achieved by3D printing-Additive manufacturing technology to achieve, which also makes it have excellent mechanical properties. A combination of advanced electronics and Domin’s advanced machining capabilities made this project possible.
Through Domin’s advanced design and3D printingMachining capability, it is possible to achieve the curve characteristics of the unit interval, thus achieving the mechanical properties required for the suspension system. The AST system will offer “infinite” variability in damping, with a step response of up to 0.015 seconds, and the unit weighs under 4kg.
FAST active suspension unit © DOMIN
Actual testing will be performed on a custom-built test platform and will include replicating the exact resonance modes and simulating the conditions the device will be exposed to in use, focusing on testing high-performance characteristics, while also ensuring the mechanical robustness of the control unit .
Domin fluid power is3D printingAn active explorer in the field of hydraulics, Domin Fluid Power developed a strategy for the “stable” design of new fluid power products based on the use of metal3D printingTechnology as the basis for the way of manufacturing. On this basis, Domin has redesigned and remanufactured some hydraulic fluid power components that have not changed significantly over the years.
A more compact, efficient and high-performance solution, Domin Fluid Power creates the next generation of fluid power technology by harnessing the transformative technological freedom of additive manufacturing to redesign products from a functional realization perspective.According to 3D Science Valley’s understanding of which computational fluid dynamics
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