Jun 17, 2015 | By Simon
When it comes to showing off the latest and greatest in additive manufacturing capabilities, leave it up to the 3D printer manufacturers themselves to create some of the wildest and most jaw-dropping 3D prints that you’ve likely ever seen.
While seemingly anybody with some 3D modeling know-how and access to a 3D printer could create any number of wild and crazy objects, the 3D printer manufacturers not only have an endless supply of filament and other resources, but also a need to show off the capabilities of their 3D printers in a highly-saturated market.
More recently, China’s Winbo Smart Tech Co.,Ltd, a 3D printer manufacturer that has multiple product lines of all multiple sizes and prices, took it upon themselves to create a full-scale working Toyota 4-cylinder engine using their own 3D printers.
The company, which is based in Guangzhou City, previously made headlines in December of last year after launching the world’s first specialized 3D printing university in Guangzhou - Baiyun Winbo 3D Printing Technology College - which features a design center, a 3D printing center, a 3D printed products display center, a training center and study facilities for students looking to move forward with a career in additive manufacturing technologies.
To create the engine, which was sourced from Thingiverse user ericthepoolboy’s ‘Toyota 4 Cylinder Engine 22RE, Complete working model’ and used to highlight the turnaround time of 3D printed parts, design engineers at the company spend three full days printing the parts on multiple FFF and FDM-based 3D printers.
The resulting functional 3D printed engine, which is made from a total of 130 individually 3D printed parts that were printed on 18 of the company’s various 3D printers, required just over 8 kg of PLA filament at a cost of $95.92. The final measurements of the assembled engine comes in at 55 cm x 49 cm x 46 cm.
According to Ms. Suki, a representative of the company, aside from highlighting just how fast it takes to get plastic 3D printed parts made for prototyping purposes, the use of 3D printed engines can also help engineers and even students better understand them before sending new designs to factories for more formal traditional manufacturing orders; if desired, the engines can also be made to work for testing functions through automation or via hand-powered methods.
Considering that the $95.92 130-piece 3D printed engine only took three days to print and assemble versus five months and thousands of dollars via traditional methods, it’s clear that not only has Winbo created a great example of what can be done with their 3D printers, but also just how powerful 3D printing can be when put to good use.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Might have been nice if you included a link over to the guy who actually designed and created the motor.
Jon S wrote at 6/17/2015 7:08:18 PM:
This is not their design. It is from ericthepoolboy, and can be found on Thingivese (along with a transmission): https://onsemi.skillport.com/skillportfe/login.action
Ian wrote at 6/17/2015 6:44:32 PM:
I would argue that a plastic engine can not be called 'functional'. It is a demonstration model and nothing more. It is impressive but the 5 months and thousands of dollars spent on a real engin will be able to power a car and not just look pretty. Rant over :c)
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