When there is a need to produce components that have been out of production for a long time, several issues may arise: the difficulty in obtaining original drawings and tooling/molds; the high costs associated with creating such tooling from scratch, which tend to be unsustainable if producing only a few units or single components. This is the scenario that unfolds, for example, when approaching the production of spare parts for vintage vehicles. The company identified a more specific context within its reference sector, the automotive industry, which offered fertile ground for the application of innovative solutions and new technologies: vintage cars.
The project carried out by CIM involves reverse engineering and the creation of an optimized version of an oil pan for a 1962 FIAT 595 Abarth.
To address the issues related to the production of limited batches of parts, for which tooling is no longer available, the use of additive technology L-PBF (Laser Powder Bed Fusion) was proposed and tested. Thanks to this innovative process, it is possible to create components starting from just the 3D CAD file.
The workflow can be summarized as follows:
– Case study analysis and requirements definition. The company provided the original component and some of its technical drawings.
– Reverse engineering of the original component. Since we could not rely on an existing file, it was necessary to reconstruct the 3D file. To do this, we based it on a 3D scan of the object and the provided drawings.
– Evaluation of the component “As-is”. Identification of the system and setting up the process to create an exact copy of the original component.
– Evaluation of the optimized component. Optimization of the component to leverage the advantages offered by additive technology. Optimization of the process to reduce costs.
– Production of the optimized version of the component.
The study aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility of producing spare parts using LPBF technology but, more importantly, to show how this process can be considered a winning and cost-effective solution, as it avoids the creation of ad hoc tooling for typically reduced production batches. The more significant the vintage car for which spare parts are sought, the greater the cost impact of adopting additive technologies.
The optimized oil pan highlighted the following advantages:
– 30% weight reduction compared to the original
– 6 parts integrated into 1 single component
– 75% scrap material (supports) compared to the “As-is” version
– 45% reduction in printing time compared to the “As-is” version
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