Automotive and Aerospace Industry
Automotive Industry
We are moving to a world of customization rather than go for standardization where each product needs to be tailored to meet customer tastes and preferences. To fulfil the customer requirements in these cases, Additive Manufacturing can definitely help us create products that are constantly getting changes and need specific requirements of the customer. Some of the components made using Additive Manufacturing would have been too complex and expensive to create with another manufacturing method.
Automobile companies are already making their own toolings such as jigs & fixtures, low-run injection moulds, custom tools, etc as complex they want without compromising your aesthetic sense. This helping them to communicate and showcase their designs to customers, stakeholders, and clients within days. Few of these things are already possible today with the help of a technology called Additive Manufacturing also knows as 3D printing.
Aerospace Industry
The main application of using 3D printing in the Aerospace/Defense industry is to produce parts that meet “weight to strength requirements. Unlike traditional manufacturing technologies 3D printing creates the object layer upon layer, this enables us to create complicated geometries and design the components without limits. Instead of going for an internal solid fill part the user can benefit from the honeycomb structure which will help reduce the part weight by 30-40% without compromising on strength when compared to traditional manufacturing technologies. 3D printing machines available in the market that can literally print a titanium material that is a new and easy way of making parts light wright weight strong parts were using in this entire airline industry will benefit from 3D printing.
How 3D Printing is Helping Them to Save Cost and Time
1. Product Development
Product development is conceptualization, design, prototyping and commercialization associated with the creation of new products and services. Product development is the number one application for Additive manufacturing. Companies are always in a race to bring new products into the market as quickly as they can. Additive Manufacturing helps product development by making the prototypes in the early stage of conceptualization. Which include:
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Concept model: Illustrate what a product would look like without concern for its fit or finish
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Appearance model: Allow designers to explore the look, feel, and size of a product without concern for its function
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Between mating parts: Illustrate how a component will fit within an assembly
2. Tooling
Tooling can be defined as “physical components used to enable the manufacture of end-use products or prototypes. In the case of “tradition manufacturing” technologies we need moulds, jigs and fixtures, press tools, gauges and other inspection tools in order to produce that first unit. Even if we want to produce a single unit, we need to invest high initial fixed cost for tooling in the traditional manufacturing process.
Benefits for tooling:
· Elimination of high initial cost
· Elimination of time
· Elimination of inventory
· Print of demand
3. Production Parts
As mentioned earlier in order to produce a single part using traditional manufacturing technology, we require a high initial cost for tooling, machinery, time and inventory. But in the case of additive manufacturing technology, The lead time can be reduced by 90-95% and cost up to 60-80%.
4. Servicing and Repairing Parts
With the help of Additive Manufacturing, the firm could produce the majority of its tools using AM, leading to overall cost savings of 79% and lead time reduction of 96% when compared with traditional manufacturing methods.