Chinese college student makes the first 3D printed metal racing car

Changsha University of Science and Technology has a group of “Science and Technology Staff” who develop their own funds and work overtime to design and manufacture “Metal 3D Printing Vehicle” -FNX-16. According to public information, such metal 3D printing media is still the first in the country. Yesterday, Changsha University of Science and Technology held a new car conference to launch this new car. He announced that he is about to participate in the 2016 Chinese University Formula Racing.

China’s first metal 3D printing concept car

“Boom-” At 4:00 pm, an FNX-16 car weighing about 200 kg was surrounded by trucks at the Kinpira Campus of Changsha University of Science and Technology. After testing, it has a speed of 130km / h, a stable driving posture and quick control. I saw the car drifting from time to time, accelerated, gathered a lot of students to see it, and everyone shouted all at once. This is the launch ceremony of China’s first “metal 3D printing racing car” of Chang’an University of Science and Technology FNX-16. 2016 China University Formula Racing will be established soon.
FNX-16 maximum speed 130 km / h

“About three years ago, the Chinese racing community introduced the concept of 3D printing of polymer materials. Today, as a concept car, we use the country’s first metal 3D printing. These metal 3D printed parts Is stronger, more stable and more expensive. It’s harder to make it for us. Zhao Shucheng, captain of the Changsha Technology Racing Team, talked about car creation. Changsha Engineering In the five years before and after college, more than 300 college students communicated for five years to create the “FNX Series” Formula Racing Racing. Yesterday, it was already the fifth “FNX-16” car. It has been under development since last year until the end of this summer. During the research phase, many of my classmates worked until 8 am. In terms of funding, Zhao Shusheng and some team members have raised tens of thousands of yuan due to insufficient funding. At the same time, he contacted an industry-leading 3D printing company as a sponsor and sponsored a team of over 200,000 yuan.

R & D process

Racing design is done by college students

The cost of metal 3D printing is very high, and the cost of metal 3D printed parts is about 10,000 yuan. The sponsor manages the production only, and the engineering must be done by the college students themselves. For example, the suspension column is reworked 5 times. Under the guidance of Yuan Xiang, the manufacturing engineers under the guidance of Tang et al. Redesigned the team several times, changed plans, played competitions, spent the summer vacation, and finally spent columns, joysticks, etc. I did. The suspension system is manufactured with metal 3D printing. Thanks to state-of-the-art SLS selective laser sintering technology, all parts are tightly meshed and working well.

Students use thousands of parts to do, learn, and research from design to manufacturing. Sleeping garages are scarce, pay for themselves, stay in school and work overtime during the winter holidays … “To debug the engine, we find a sponsored field , Spent two hours in the hot summer at the factory. A crack at dawn came back to the starry sky. “Zhao Shucheng participates in sponsorship, parts processing, car assembly, car landing, and finally competition. He said it was all done by the team in pursuit of being ready to do it. “Team members are of different ages and professions, but we all have a common racing dream.”

“This time, the car manufacturing process has formed a unique idea and has already developed its own innovative features. Team member Tao Yiwei said that the FNX-16 weighs about 200 kg and its driving posture is. He said it was much more stable than previous versions.
Cao Yu, secretary-general of the Department of Automotive Machinery Party Committee of Changsha University of Science and Technology, said that these students were diligent and successful. From them, we can see the bright future of “Made in China 2025”.

3D printing can produce various metal parts for racing cars

We manufacture intake manifolds, hubs, steering wheels, aerodynamic kits and many other components using 3D printing technology. “When using mechanical methods, many parts need to be made with many small parts, different molds, machine tools. After using 3D printing technology, the software models and imports the printer. All you have to do is print the entire car system at once.

Metal 3D printing is slightly different from plastic 3D printing throughout the manufacturing process and requires special additives. This means that you need to split it into multiple levels and print in layers to get the desired shape. At the same time, the metal can be broken down into very fine metal powders by laser. The diameter of this powder is less than half the diameter of human hair, and metal 3D printers can produce very small and complex parts. The major metal parts that make up a car chassis, including aluminum and steel, can be printed in 3D.

Foreground

Automotive industry uses 3D printing china technology extensively

According to the regulations of the University of China Formula Racing, the vehicle must use a 4-stroke gasoline engine with a displacement of 610cc or less. Therefore, the FNX-16 uses a 600cc motorcycle engine. To make the car better, divide the whole team into multiple groups such as power, suspension and body to make the car lighter, stronger and more flexible. The 40 members of the team have specialized divisions of labor, from frame manufacturing, engine manufacturing, financial management, promotion, and even special personnel.

BMW Germany is understood to be one of the first car companies to start using 3D printing technology. Shortly after the official birth of 3D printing in 1990, they introduced the technology to their own high-speed technology center.

China has a huge industrial market and hundreds of thousands of industrial enterprises larger than the designated size. Industrial enterprises will be the most important customers of metal 3D printing in the future. With 3D technology, large industries no longer need very large factory buildings, future manufacturing sites will be smaller, faster, smarter, and capacity will be several times higher than they are today. “The future of the automotive industry will inevitably lead to wider use of 3D printing technology,” said Wang Hui.