Automotive Design and Production

OCT 2013

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Printed Visions of 2040 ACCELERATE It's 2040. Will your ride look closer to Tom Cruise's in Minority Report or Sylvester Stallone's in Death Race 2000? (We're guessing the former, but you never know). One hundred ffty-one 3D printed models of cars, planes, spacecraft and other visions of transport in 2040 were submitted for the 3D Printer Challenge sponsored by MakerBot (makerbot.com) and GrabCAD (grabcad.com). GrabCAD is an online community consisting primarily of mechanical design engineers. All models were printed on a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, which, incidentally, was the prize given to the frst place winner, while a MakerBot Replicator 1 Desktop 3D Printer was awarded to second prize. The winning design, "Alpha," submitted by user "Omega" from Germany, depicts a fying spacecraft with vestiges from the previous century in the form of hot rod triple exhaust pipes and spoilers. p MakerBot-generated model of "Alpha," a vision of what transportation will be like in 2040. (It is a spacecraft, not a snail.) America's Dulling Edge in Additive Manufacturing According to the Wohlers Associates Inc. (wohlers associates.com) report on advanced manufacturing around the globe, 38% of all industrial advanced manufacturing installations are in the U.S., 9.7% are in Japan, 9.4% in Germany and 8.7% in China. At frst glance, the top line numbers might not seem ominous for American manufacturers, but take a closer look. Sixteen companies in Europe, seven in China, fve in the U.S., and two in Japan now manufacture and sell professionalgrade, industrial additive manufacturing systems. If the U.S. is to preserve its competitive advantage in the AM industry, Wohlers representatives advocate the industry focus on developing metal-based powder bed fusion systems and other advanced system technologies. Last year, the Obama Administration launched the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which includes the Department of Defense and a host of other agencies, to advance AM technology. But that's a token efort compared with what the governments of China and other European countries have committed. "This is a dramatic change from a decade ago, when the mix was ten in the U.S., seven in Europe, seven in Japan, and three in China," said Tim Cafrey, a principal author of the new report and associate consultant at Wohlers Associates. "It will not be easy, given what organizations in China and other regions of the world have planned," said Terry Wohlers, a principal author of the report and president of Wohlers Associates. Now in its 18th consecutive year, the Wohlers Report 2013 is an 18-month snapshot of the additive manufacturing sector including its applications, processes, manufacturers, and materials. It also looks into R&D; and collaboration among in government, academia, and industry. Revenues from all additive manufacturing products and services worldwide reached $2.204-billion in 2012, up 28.6% from 2011, according to the report. An estimated 28.3% of that total relates to the production for fnal products, rather than models, prototypes, patterns, and other types of parts. 53

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