China3D printingOn June 15th, Sauber Engineering AG is a division of the long-established motorsport team Sauber. It intends to establish a 3D printing business unit for the production of classic auto parts produced on demand.
With its 28 years of experience as a Formula One fleet, Sauber Engineering is looking to establish a service to provide reverse engineering and printing spare parts for traditional vehicles. The new joint venture aims to meet the needs of old-fashioned car enthusiasts, whose precious property needs repairs, but can no longer rely on the aftermarket support of local suppliers.
“At Sauber, we have a wealth of knowledge and understanding of automotive engineering,” said Christoph Hansen, Sauber’s Director of Engineering Technology and Innovation. “Combining this with our experience in the additive manufacturing of high-performance F1 components, we can provide something unique to the long-established automotive industry-a one-stop service for replacing damaged or damaged parts, otherwise this Will mean the end of the car.
We can now provide classic car owners with a range of options, from simple plastic covers to complete gearbox housings or engine parts. “
Sauber has successfully 3D printed replacement parts for the Ferrari 340 America Barchetta.
Sauber’s racing tradition
Since its establishment in 1970, Sauber has created a legendary history of success in motorsports, which brought the Silver Arrows name back to the track and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sauber’s F1 team has also participated in the sport continuously since 1993. In the process, it scored 865 points and continues to race under the banner of Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN.
Over the past three years, Sauber’s collaboration with Alfa Romeo has witnessed its steady integration of additive manufacturing parts into its racing cars. In 2020, the team’s “C39” version has 143 3D printed parts, but now this season’s “C41” has increased to 304, and its cost is estimated to be reduced by 90%.
The components themselves are manufactured using Additive Industries machines at Sauber’s Metal 3D Printing Competence Center, which now has 13 systems and produces 22,000 parts per year. Using its growing additive manufacturing capabilities, including three new additive manufacturing solutions S1 post-processing systems, Sauber is now seeking to apply its F1 expertise elsewhere to restore timeless automotive classics.
Christoph Hansen, Director of Engineering Technology and Innovation at Sauber, and Stephan Rösler, President and CEO of Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH.
Sauber has partnered with AM Solutions to enhance the post-processing of its 3D printed racing car parts. Picture from Rosler Group.
Refurbished car classic
Prior to the launch of the new service, Sauber was already facing the challenge of designing a gearbox housing for the classic Ferrari 340 America Barchetta. The service will provide customers with everything from 3D printing covers to engine parts. As the standard configuration of the rear axle of the car, the damaged part cannot be replaced because it is extremely rare, and its age means that its schematic diagram is also unavailable.
“The gearbox was badly damaged and cracked on the housing,” Hansen explained. “Our only option is to reverse engineer the enclosure, which involves performing a full 3D scan of the structure and then optimizing the CAD file to produce a design that can be additively manufactured.”
In the process of reverse engineering, the Sauber engineering team used their extensive automotive expertise to build a redesigned gearbox that not only has the built-in tolerances required for end-use functions, but that ultimately surpasses the original gearbox.
At Sauber Engineering’s Zurich plant using Additive Industries MetalFAB1 3D printers, the final aluminum part takes about five days to produce. After printing, the part went through post-processing and rigorous testing, during which time it proved to be lighter and more durable than its real Ferrari-made predecessor.
Sauber’s project management and sales director Jonathan Herzog concluded: “Our goal with Sauber’s new historical auto parts business is to keep these ancient classic models alive on the road and use them for their design purposes. Using today’s technology, we can achieve this goal and ensure that these important and beloved vehicles with a long history will not disappear.”
3D printingSpare parts and repairs
The integration of reverse engineering strategies, digital inventory, and 3D printing increasingly supports the redesign and manufacturing of rare or discontinued parts. At the beginning of 2021, SOLIZE announced that it is working with HP as part of a similar project to add spare parts for some of Nissan’s NISMO traditional sports car series.
In the past, the British restoration team Redesign Sport also used 3D scanning and CAD modeling to reverse engineer a classic Ferrari. The company used Creaform equipment to scan the parts of the 1952 Ferrari 225, then outsourced them, and then installed them on the vehicle for display at the Goodwood Revival Festival.
Elsewhere, the US Army Air and Missile Command (AMCOM) has deployed a similar reverse engineering strategy to fully 3D model the UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter. By creating digital twins of transport aircraft, the US Army aims to create a digital parts catalog, which in turn can be used as a means of 3D printing some of the more difficult-to-procure components.
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