Additive Manufactured Materials Are Ready For Prime Time And Prime Production

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a well-known process in the automotive industry. For years, 3D printing has been used to produce prototype components for fit, function and engineering validation. But AM has been rarely deployed in a serial production environment—until now.

OEMs are rapidly adopting AM in automotive manufacturing due to the potential benefits in weight reduction, complex geometries of design and on-site distributed manufacturing. However, OEMs had several reasons for not utilizing additive manufacturing in a large-scale production environment

One of the primary issues is that typical under-hood materials such as PA12 and PPSU -- commonly used in injection molding -- tend to become brittle when used in additive manufacturing. This meant that the materials would not meet engineering and certification requirements in the automotive industry. Additive manufacturing also struggles to be cost-effective compared to injection molding and other traditional manufacturing processes when faced with the incredibly high volumes required by automotive production.

Additive Manufacturing Is Transforming

Recent developments in additive manufacturing are starting to overtake existing shortcomings, making the process attractive to the automotive industry as it looks ahead. In fact, 40 percent of automotive decision makers from Jabil’s recent survey say that mass production will be most impacted by 3D printing in the next decade. Another 35 percent believe it will impact early prototyping during design and development. Materials science in AM is advancing quickly, with new polymer filaments and powders coming online to make production-ready, ISO 9001 and TS16949 certified, automotive-grade components a reality

And when it comes to volume, the numbers are starting to make sense for additive manufacturing. AM may not yet be suited for high-volume, mainstream automotive just yet, but it is becoming increasingly attractive for low- and mid-volume applications ranging from high-performance to commercial vehicles.

Consider an aftermarket performance engineering company. They do a limited number of conversions of a popular sports car per year, putting their overall production volume in a category that makes additive manufacturing an attractive option. Now, factor in the weight reduction potential of AM parts—parts that can still have the necessary strength and durability this manufacturer requires. Combine this withthe fact that very complex component designs are now possible, and this process becomes a very attractive proposition for a business specializing in customization.

Production Value vs. Tooling Cost: When Additive Manufacturing Makes Good Business Sense

So, what exactly is the “sweet spot” where AM becomes both a viable and desirable option? Let’s take a look:

The figure below shows the breakeven volume of producing a part additively with high-speed sintering (HSS) compared to injection molding. The injection molding price includes amortized tooling cost. As you can see AM is economically viable at volumes under 33,000 units.

While it’s not always practical to reach attractive economics when converting existing designs to additive manufacturing, one of the most significant benefits is parts consolidation. With the complex geometries that are possible with AM, the need for certain sub-assemblies and the additional labor and time that goes into an assembly process can be eliminated by producing one entire assembly as a single component. Additive manufacturing enables engineers to think in terms of high-level systems, instead of stand-alone parts that need additional steps and funding to be produced and assembled.

AM also does not requiring the complex tooling of legacy manufacturing techniques. This means that each change to production requirements does not demand a requisite change in tooling. Instead the same 3D printer can adapt to new parts and processes dynamically, without requiring an expensive new infrastructure to align with the change.

Another key value is that additive manufacturing can make a truly distributed manufacturing environment possible. Working with a partner that can provide a comprehensive 3D printing network means that printers can be placed on or near the site  location where they will be consumed. When considering MRO and Aftermarket support, manufacturing in this way eliminates warehousing, transportation and other logistics and enables parts to be produced on-demand when and where they are needed with speed.

What parts are possible through Additive Manufacturing?

The complex geometries afforded by additive manufacturing can improve performance and efficiency in systems such as ductwork in automotive applications. Shapes that reduce airflow restrictions are possible that would be difficult with roto-molding or cost-prohibitive with injection molding.

AM is now considered more often as a production solution for fluid management components. Parts such as heat exchangers and fluid pathways are traditionally highly complex shapes that required extensive tooling to produce. What used to push the limits of older manufacturing technology can now be feasibly produced simply and efficiently through AM. The potential of AM is moving even further beyond these applications with the potential production of highly-complex components such as intake manifolds. Today, intake manifolds are welded, or lost core injection molded, and both are very expensive and cumbersome processes. But many of these manifolds are produced from either Nylon 6 or Nylon 46, so it is conceivable to print one of these complex shapes in the near future.

Additive Manufacturing: Defining the Road Ahead

While a recent survey showed that the cost and availability of certified materials continue to restrain widespread adoption of this manufacturing process, AM is still demonstrating a solid annual growth rate of more than 20 percent, according to the 2019 Wohler’s Report. That’s because the industry is responding to materials demand with research and development that is enabling new materials that can meet the stringent validation and certification process of the automotive industry in areas such as fit and function, mechanical integrity and low toxicity. It is these new materials that are enabling additive manufacturing to transform sophisticated supply chains and challenging the automotive industry to rethink how it brings new products to market.

As an example, Jabil has opened a Materials Innovation Center in Minnesota that develops polymer formulations, compound development and ISO 9001 and TS16949 certification. At this facility, additive manufacturing engineers, chemists, materials scientists and production experts consult with customers and oversee each step of custom powder and filament development. By leveraging its Materials, Processes and Machines (MPM) solution, Jabil also ensures that manufacturing rigor is applied to each specialized material that’s custom developed across more than 200-printers in the Jabil Additive Manufacturing Network.

The rapid iteration and certified production of these engineered materials will provide customers with a faster path from prototyping to production than previously available. Value-added attributes include reinforced, flame retardant, conductive, lubricated, Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) and other engineered characteristics. The new materials are coupled with a full range of services, including compounding, extrusion and powder creation as well as complete system integration on standard, open source platforms supported by Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and High-Speed Sintering (HSS) equipment. Jabil Engineered Materials are available to customers through distributor partners, including Chase Plastics and Channel Prime Alliance.