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10/08/2006
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Tom Shelley reports on some of the innovations to be found at this year's TCT exhibition and conference
Beating the competition to market is only possible for those who have the right tools and make best possible use of them.
Engineers in motor sports are under greatest pressure to achieve this, so it is appropriate that several examples from this field feature in this year's TCT conference and exhibition, held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon on September 19 and 20.
In their joint paper, Pat Warner of Renault F1 and Chris Huskamp from Boeing Phantom Works pinpoint four ways in which the industry can embrace the rapid manufacturing 'revolution': identifying system needs, present and future; evaluating material advancements required to span the applications gap; identifying industry shortcomings such as reliable maintenance, future sustainment of existing systems, and a base level of standardisation for reported properties; and educating design communities that are struggling with parts that do not have Design for Manufacturing and Assembly requirements.
After lunch, Steve Nevey, business development manager at Red Bull F1 Racing will be speaking at 2pm on Day One of the conference on the subject of "On Track with Rapid Manufacturing at Red Bull F1", focussing on the rapid manufacturing material issues confronted by the team during the race season.
Outside the conference hall, on stand 37, will be Advantage CFD. It recently completed a project with Aston Martin Racing under which the racing DBR9 went straight from Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis to racing on the track without the usual intervening stage of scale model wind tunnel testing.
Ogle Models and Prototypes, on stand 47, was approached by City University to help create a new intake manifold for a single-seat racing car. A team of students at the university will compete in the annual Formula Student race series. The intake manifold design had become extremely complicated due to its shape and a rule imposing a restrictor in the airflow. The design of any intake manifold is crucial to the performance of the engine.
Ogle created the model using a selective laser sintering (SLS) rapid prototyping technology with an aluminium-filled nylon material capable of withstanding 150[degrees]C. While this increased engine power, there were difficulties with extra air flowing back into the engine through the gap between the engine block and the bottom of the prototype runners, so Ogle modified the inlet design. The end result was significant improvement in the power and torque that could be delivered by the engine. The Ogle stand features a £125,000 3D Systems Viper SLA system.
Sales and marketing director David Bennion said: "Only two or three companies have Viper within their facility and we're one of them."
Using advanced materials for rapid prototyping has allowed such technologies to be used for short-run production manufacturing. Accura 'Bluestone', available for use in parts made by AME Prototype Solutions on stand 35/36, is a ceramic-filled resin with a glass transition temperature above 250[degrees]C. The material is deemed suitable for turbines, wind tunnel test components, vacuum forming tools and injection mould inserts. In addition, the company has introduced Accura si50 SLA resin which is comparable to moulded ABS, to complement its existing Somos 11120 'Watershed' and Somos 9120 PP materials.
TCT exhibition and conference
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Author
Tom Shelley
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