Mar 15, 2017 | By Tess

POLGAR KFT, a Hungarian manufacturer of automotive parts, has successfully used 3D printing technologies to prototype a new train seat design. The seat was made in collaboration with Hungarian 3D digitizing systems company METRIS 3D, and was additive manufactured using an OMNI3D Factory 2.0 industrial 3D printer.

According to POLGAR KFT, it was able to cut down significantly on the cost of prototyping, as well as the time involved to make it. More specifically, the company saved €370,000 (90% of the traditional prototyping costs), and was able to have the functional prototype ready within just three weeks, an 80% reduction compared to the 16 weeks lead time prototyping a train seat could normally take.

As mentioned, the Hungarian manufacturer reached out to METRIS 3D to help in the production and testing of the seat prototype, which was 3D printed using OMNI3D’s industrial Factory 2.0 3D printer, an FFF-style machine with a build volume of 500 x 500 x 500 mm. In total, 37 parts were 3D printed on the Factory 2.0 system, which took a total of 500 hours. The 3D printed train seat parts ranged in size from 70 x 70 x 20 mm to 480 x 210 x 370 mm, and were made from ABS-42 (with HIPS-20 supports). The project used about 10 kg of filament.

“In the case of large models, most challenging is the size of the biggest element, the dimensional accuracy and print time,” explained Krzysztof Kardach, Chief of Technologies at OMNI3D. “Factory 2.0 enabled us to print large parts of even 500 mm along each axis with very high accuracy.”

Once the parts were 3D printed, METRIS 3D used its 3D scanning technology (the RPS EVO6 scanner) to verify the dimensional accuracy of the 3D printed components. The largest part, which, as Kardach mentioned, was the most challenging to achieve dimensional accuracy, was positively tested using the 3D scanner. A METRIS 3D engineer even went as far as to say the dimensional accuracy was impressive.

Ultimately, the 3D printed parts were assembled to create a functional prototype of a train seat, which was subsequently tested and checked by POLGAR KFT to make sure, from a design perspective, everything was up to par.

As a METRIS 3D representative explained, “The great thing about having a functional prototype is that we could really test the model. Before, this was impossible due to very long lead time. Now, thanks to 3D printing, we could change the design soon after we made the first 3D prints. It turned out, for example, that some of the movable parts (like trashcans and holders) could not [have] been moved, which was missed in the CAD file."

This is not the first time that OMNI3D’s Factory 2.0 3D printer has been used in the automotive sector, as Polish sports car manufacturer Arrinera Technology recently enlisted OMNI3D to assist in making the Arrinera Hussarya supercar.

 

 

Posted in Rapid Prototyping

 

 

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