Today, additive manufacturing is a key part of that arsenal. Wind tunnel testing of 3D-printed components was the first main application, says James Short, application engineer for industrial 3D printing specialist Stratasys, which works with F1 teams including Aston Martin Aramco and McLaren.
“The wind tunnel testing is to check all the aerodynamics for new designs, to make sure that they're performing as they need them,” says Short, who will be speaking at an upcoming IMechE webinar on the topic alongside Aston Martin Aramco engineers.
“Traditionally, manufacturing wind tunnel test models can be very expensive and very slow. But in order to achieve extremely high surface finish, so you don't impact the way the air travels across your surface, that's where additive manufacturing – and specifically stereolithography (SLA) – lends its value because of its extremely high surface finish. What they require from an additive manufacturing tool is that it's very smooth and very rigid.”
That capability has been provided by “quite basic” photopolymer materials, Short says, but new composite materials such as Somos PerFORM – also printed by the company’s Neo printers – can provide better rigidity and surface smoothness.
“They're able to produce these very large, very smooth wind tunnel test models, so it cuts down the cost and the labour involved,” Short says. “With F1, they're iterating so quickly that they need to have these tools produce as quickly as possible.”
Whether it is between races or between seasons, F1 teams are “always iterating”, adds Stratasys F1 account manager Shaun Cooper. “Time is quite short for these guys… being able to turn around iterations as quickly as possible helps with that.”
That need for speed means teams always want “the best and the newest” technologies, he adds. More recent uses include fused deposition modelling (FDM) printers and thermoplastic materials for advanced tooling applications, such as producing mandrels for complex pipe work.
The wide range of applications has seen significant uptake of 3D printing technologies, Short says, with McLaren F1 using SLA technology to produce more than 9,000 components each year. “It’s integral to the entire start-to-finish design production workflow,” he says.
Some aerodynamics teams have sped up projects by 25-30% using advanced new printers, Cooper adds.
Getting on track
As with the wider automotive sector and other industries such as aerospace and defence, the Stratasys engineers say they are seeing a push for ‘end-use’ parts in the vehicles themselves. Made of polymers or elastomers, additively manufactured components can offer high-performance alternatives for low-volume parts.
Although Short is unable to mention specific parts being used in F1 due to competition between teams, he highlights 3D-printed air-intake manifolds used in Nascar. The parts are suited for additive manufacturing because metal tooling would be “extremely costly” for a run of just 30-40 parts, he says.
“On the face of it, additive can appear to be quite expensive. We're talking about very expensive systems and materials that are high cost. But the savings that these teams make in the turn around of their production – being able to test parts in the wind tunnel far faster than they previously would have done – there's an inherent cost saving there.
“And then by having the access to this, to a more advanced form of production where you don't have to consider the constraints of traditional tooling or moulding, you're really able to produce more complex, more organic designs. That then opens up weight savings, so you can produce parts that are lighter for the vehicle, and therefore your performance on the track goes up.”
The pace of the ‘race between races’ also spurs Stratasys to improve its technology, with introduction of new materials a major area of interest at F1 teams. “They're constantly throwing us feedback, asking for new kinds of requirements that they want the materials to give them,” Cooper says. “Really high level, we will have a touch on all the teams.”
Short looks to a different industry for an example of how F1 might evolve. Airbus now uses over 4,000 parts made with Stratasys 3D printers per aircraft, he says. “I see the same thing happening in the future with F1. I can see a world where a significant percentage of the components on a vehicle are additively manufactured, especially when we look at new materials that we bring into the market, like our silicone material, which allows people to produce O-rings and gaskets in very complex geometries,” he says.
“We have electronic housing materials that have ESD (electrostatic discharge) properties that you would then be able to produce extremely lightweight, bespoke component brackets, and that's what we've seen Airbus really focus on, larger numbers of bespoke components. That's where I think we'll see F1 pushing in the future.
“Then really the limitation is the technology itself, and who knows where we’ll be in 10 years? There's a world where we might be seeing printers that are hybrid models, where you're able to produce an additive part and then combine it with a composite within the process. There’s a lot that could happen down the road.”
Inside Aston Martin Aramco Formula One: The Race Between Races takes place online on 22 October. Find out more and register for free now.
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