Rodin Cars, a New Zealand car manufacturer, and title-winning NASCAR team Stewart-Haas Racing are accelerating productivity in the automotive sector with 3DSystems‘ Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) sPro 230, Stereolithography (SLA) ProX 800, and ProX DMP 320 3D printers.
“3D Systems’ customer-specific, application-driven approach is advancing the adoption of digital manufacturing. Our innovative materials and broad portfolio of hardware and software allow manufacturers to seamlessly integrate 3D printing into their production workflows,” said Vyomesh Joshi, President and CEO, at 3D Systems.
“Our world-class experience and expertise, in collaboration with our industry-leading automotive customers, results in solutions that help them design and produce parts quickly, significantly reduce the product development cycle, drive down cost, and stay ahead of the competition.”
3D printing for race cars
With over two decades of experience, Rodin Cars design and builds maximum-performance cars for the track and road. The company has integrated 3D Systems’ SLA, SLS, and Direct Metal Printing (DMP) technologies to manufacture such open-wheel vehicles for racetracks.
Particularly, the sPro 230, ProX 800, and ProX DMP 320 are being utilized for tooling with carbon fiber as well as for titanium production parts of exhaust collectors, mufflers, uprights, hubs, and component mount brackets. This selection of industrial 3D printers has accelerated the company’s complex design concepts and produced lighter weight metal parts not previously possible with conventional processes.
“The extreme conditions of track racing leave no room for error,” said David Dicker, founder of Rodin Cars. “Many components that we manufacture in-house have geometrical complexities that only 3D printing can provide.
“What we’re able to accomplish through the breadth of solutions offered by 3D Systems’ printers is second to none, providing build-speed and design advantages that are hard to match.”
Stewart-Haas Racing and 3D printing
Stewart-Haas Racing is owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – a CNC machine tool builder in North America. The company fields four entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and therefore uses industrial additive manufacturing for efficient vehicle development.
As well as the ProX800, Stewart-Haas Racing 3D Systems Geomagic Wrap reverse engineering software to improve its scan-to-CAD workflow to produce aerodynamic components for race car component development and wind tunnel testing.
“Everything we do is related to putting more speed into our cars,” said Reneau Van Landingham, aerodynamic design group manager, Stewart-Haas Racing.
“Our most valuable asset is time. The faster we can develop concepts that improve the performance of our cars on the track, the better. The ProX 800 plays a big role in this effort because it enables us to produce parts efficiently and accurately during this development process.”
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Featured image shows this FZed exhaust collector was 3D printed in titanium on 3D Systems’ ProX DMP 320, and PVD coated in titanium nitride. Photo via Rodin Cars.
