3D printing critical in MINI World Rally Championship

Stratasys recently announced that its Dimension 3D printers and Fortus Production 3D Printers played a critical role in the development of the new MINI John Cooper Works World Rally Car (WRC).

The MINI Cooper WRC Team used the additive manufacturing machines to create a full-scale mock-up of the vehicle directly from the CAD (computer aided design) files, and it used the technology extensively on other assemblies and components of the vehicle.

The MINI WRC Team relied heavily on 3D printing throughout the car’s two-year development cycle. To design the test car, engineers used Stratasys FDM 3D Printing technology to create large parts of the engine bay, gearbox, steering assembly, vehicle interior and even engine components, such as intake valves. In addition to prototyping parts for the test track, the MINI WRC Team even produced some end-use parts for the finished car. One of the most visible of these is the ergonomically styled gearshift display and control panel, which is mounted on the steering column.

The development of the car, which will be featured in this year’s World Rally Championship, has impressed upon MINI WRC Team the importance of 3D printing in saving time, reducing tooling costs and enabling more design freedom of complex geometric parts.

“We would find it nearly impossible to build another car without using FDM technology,” said Paul Doe, chief design engineer. “We would never have dreamt of building the parts we did without the Stratasys machines. Using composite parts would have cost up to three to five times more.”

“MINI WRC Team’s use of FDM technology to develop a race-worthy car for WRC demonstrates that it’s both efficient and cost effective,” said Tim Heller, managing director of Stratasys Europe. “It’s nice to be considered an indispensable part of the prestigious team’s operation.”

MINI WRC Team used Stratasys Dimension 1200es 3D Printers and Fortus 400mc Production 3D Printers with polycarbonate and ABS materials.

MINI WRC Team Details

The MINI WRC Team made its debut in the FIA World Rally Championship in Rally Italy, Sardinia in May and for 2011 will be competing in just six European rallies with two MINI John Cooper Works WRCS. This is ahead of a full assault taking in all rounds of the championship in 2012.

MINI has a great rallying heritage and so for its two cars the team has chosen the numbers 37 and 52, which were carried by the cars winning the Monte Carlo Rally in the sixties.

Driving number 37 is Spain’s Dani Sordi with his co-driver being fellow Spaniard Carlos del Barrio.

Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland is driving number 52, and his co-driver is Paul Nagle from Southern Ireland.

This programme was initially announced last July, but even before then a lot of development had been done by MINI’s partner in this project Prodrive, one of the most experienced and respected operations in rallying. This UK based company from Banbury has no less than six World Rally Championship titles to its name. It was founded by team principal David Richards, who was himself a very successful rally co-driver.

“MINI powered by BMW Motorsport”: The heart of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC is the 1.6-litre, four-cylinder Di turbo engine, which is also available in the MINI production models.

The production engine was further developed by BMW Motorsport for the use in various categories according to FIA Super 2000 regulations. The power transmission takes place via an Xtrac 6-speed, sequential gearbox.

For its outings on the rally stages, the MINI Countryman chassis has been fitted with a roll cage developed by Prodrive, which exceeds the strict safety requirements of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Stratasys Inc. is a maker of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping and producing plastic parts. The company markets under the brands Fortus 3D Production Systems and Dimension 3D Printers. The company also operates RedEye On Demand, a digital manufacturing service for prototypes and production parts. According to Wohlers Report 2010, Stratasys supplied more additive manufacturing systems in 2009 than any other manufacturer, making it the unit market leader for the eighth consecutive year. Stratasys patented and owns the process known as FDM.® The process creates functional prototypes and manufactured goods directly from any 3D CAD program, using high-performance industrial thermoplastics. The company holds more than 285 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents globally. Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, business & industrial equipment, education, architecture, and consumer-product industries. Online at: http://www.stratasys.com/

FDM Technology is a trademark, and FDM, Stratasys, Fortus, Dimension and RedEye are registered trademarks of Stratasys Inc.

The FDM Tooling Alternative

The following events, although fictional, are very real problems in companies with low volume product needs.

Design Engineer (DE): " I just spoke with our tooling vendor and they are quoting us $15,000 just for the tool and the lead time is 4 weeks."

Engineering Manager (EM): Gets out his calculator. "We only need 50 parts, that's $300 per part not including their molding costs. We need these out in the field next week if possible. What's with the long lead time?"

DE: "Remember we designed in some complex features because it needs to fit with other components. Redesigning this will take another week minimum and we might have to create multiple parts to make this work, costing more to get it tooled."

EM: "What about those FDM rapid prototype parts we had built in a couple of days and tested last month? They withstood our testing requirements and as I recall they had some fairly complex features as well. Do you think using FDM would work for these parts in the field?"

DE: "You know what, this might be the perfect application for this part, I'll go find out what 3D printing service she used for those prototypes."

Sometime in the near future .......

The design engineer gave it shot and had a first article part delivered overnight for validation. The part worked great, so the rest of the 50 parts were ordered. The 3D printing service provider was able to build the parts over the weekend and had them delivered and on the doorstep by Tuesday, ready for assembly.

The engineers were treated like heroes for their ingenuity in getting the products into the field faster than ever before.

EM: "Using FDM as an alternative to tooling is our best secret weapon yet!"

Lesson Learned: Always have an alternative manufacturing method like FDM that can fit your budget and time. FDM IS an alternative to tooling and outsourcing can provide yet another vehicle to getting parts in your hands fast. For more details, visit RedEyeOnDemand.

Written by Tim Thellin from Stratasys Inc

Make Fiber Molds 80% Faster with a 3D Printer

Molded fiber packaging is an ideal choice because it's eco-friendly and sustainable. It's produced from old newsprint, corrugated boxes and a variety of other plant fibers making it 100% recyclable and biodegradable. Unfortunately, waiting three to four weeks for a machined mold might be a deal breaker.

With RedEye Australasia's FDM technology, you can produce a fiber mold in just a few hours. FDM technology automates and accelerates mold production by replacing the design, machining and screening processes of traditional mold building.

Download the application guide to find out how you can make paper pulp molds 80% faster with a 3d printer.