Home » Misc » 3D printer car engine

3D printer car engine


Tiny 3D-Printed Engines Are Stunning Motor Masterpieces

| Features

Incredibly detailed 1:4 scale versions of your favorite engines.

RodrezWriter

Scale models and automotive enthusiasm have gone hand-in-hand since the earliest Hot Rod days. In modern times, you'll find countless ways to indulge in these tiny replicas that often end up next to your monitor or on a shelf for display. Few, however, are as detailed and on-brand as the 1:4 scale 3D printed masterpieces coming from DBS Works.

The New Kid

The brand's creator and owner, Diego, is based in Madrid, Spain, and has experienced a meteoric rise through the social media ranks as images of his incredibly detailed engines are constantly being shared. Some are standard replicas of mostly Honda engines (with a few Nissan and Toyota versions offered as well), while others are one-off customs requested by eager customers looking for something unique to match their personal projects.

Based on the level of precision, we expected a team of artists, or, at the very least, a group of savvy 3D printing gurus to be at the core of DBS Works. What we found is that it's just one guy using self-taught skills to supply a growing demand using a process that offers incredible freedom yet robs precious hours with lengthy procedures.

"I don't have any experience in 3D printing or 3D modeling," Diego states. "I was into 1:24 scale model cars, which you have to assemble and paint yourself, and I saw some awesome 3D prints that people made for their cars. I loved to paint the little engines that come with those kits and seeing the capabilities of a 3D printer, I thought it might be possible to make a larger scale engine to display on its own"

Self-Taught Mastery

Diego purchased his first 3D printer and began his own research into basic C.A.D. 3D modeling. Feeling like he had enough knowledge to start printing something on his own, he began with a Honda K20A—a favorite of his as it was the same engine that powered his Civic Type R. He adds, "I just wanted a cool model of a K20A to sit on my desk and I created an Instagram account to share pictures of it." A large account on Instagram took notice and shared some of his images and overnight, it became a hit with a long list of interested enthusiasts messaging and asking, "how much?"

Seeing a demand for his custom models, Diego decided to try making them for the masses. "I was a little overwhelmed but after a bit of thinking, I decided to start selling them. I only intended to make the K20, but since I enjoyed making it so much, I decided to try making a Honda B-series, and then a Nissan RB26DETT. Seeing that so many people liked it and I got so many requests, I decided to continue making the engines I liked most—which are mostly Honda engines except for the Toyota 2JZGTE and RB26."

The process starts with a C.A.D. 3D model image and makes its way to Diego's printer shortly after, but the production itself isn't a quick one. He notes, "Printing time on average is about 80 hours. Then I must assemble, paint, and pack the item for shipping. 3D printing is amazing because you can see your ideas turned into reality within hours, but it's not the fastest technology from a [mass] production perspective." Custom parts required for customers that want a specific style or replica of their personal set up require additional 3D modeling time and assembly is typically more involved than a standard kit.

Pulling Double Duty

Even with the long-winded 3D printing process, Diego has managed to stay in front of the orders he has coming in and offers a reasonable lead time, though he mentions that it's been impossible to produce some additional stock to speed up orders. We should add that all of this is done while he still maintains his regular full-time job. DBS Works remains a side project and leaves very little free time for Diego. "I'm ok with this being a hobby/business and I will continue making these as long as I feel motivated and keep enjoying the process. "

The engine models are available fully assembled and ready for display or as a DIY kit, handing off the assembly and painting duties to the customer. Either way, the finished product is remarkably accurate, with casting lines, a water pump housing carved into place, intake and exhaust manifolds included and more. Even the crank pulley, flywheel, timing chain tensioner, and injectors are all separate pieces rather than a "blob" of plastic like other scale models you might have encountered.

Rolling Out Something New

Along with the engines being offered, Diego also began producing single piece, 1:5 scale collectable wheels with display cases featuring the Mugen M7, MF10, MR5, NR10R, and RnR. "I thought it would be cool to make small replicas of highly collectible Mugen wheels. They've been rising in price in recent years and have become something of an iconic object from the '80s and '90s JDM era." In addition, he's also introduced other wheels, including Volk's legendary TE37 and Spoon's SW388.

Along with fulfilling standard and custom engine and wheel orders, Diego is also working on creating scaled versions of popular valve covers as collectables that he'd like to offer. He of course has the 3D modeling completed already but is still working out the overall sizing and display details. Just another step for the guy that stumbled into a new hobby which in turn blossomed into a full-blown business that has enthusiasts around the world talking.

If you're interested in ordering one of Diego's unique creations, you can reach him on his DBS Works Instagram account.

 

Trending Pages
  • Best Electric Cars - Top Rated Electric Car Models
  • How Much Is a Tesla? Here’s a Price Breakdown
  • Best Hybrid Cars - Top Rated Hybrid Car Models
  • Every Electric SUV You Can Buy in the U.S. in 2022
  • These Are the Most Fuel-Efficient Pickups You Can Buy
  • These Are the SUVs Offering the Best Gas Mileage
Trending Pages
  • Best Electric Cars - Top Rated Electric Car Models
  • How Much Is a Tesla? Here’s a Price Breakdown
  • Best Hybrid Cars - Top Rated Hybrid Car Models
  • Every Electric SUV You Can Buy in the U.
    S. in 2022
  • These Are the Most Fuel-Efficient Pickups You Can Buy
  • These Are the SUVs Offering the Best Gas Mileage

3D printed engine: What is possible?

Posted By Lucie Gaget on Aug 18, 2020 |

3D printing is offering a lot of possibilities for many industries, and aeronautics and aerospatial are some of them. These industries are actually making the most of this technology, both for prototyping and production. New opportunities are constantly offered to these industries with the development of new advanced technologies and materials. Many mechanical items can be created thanks to additive manufacturing, such as engine parts for an aircraft, a rocket, or a car! In this blogpost, we will discuss 3D printed engines. First, we will see how 3D printing is helping to create mechanical parts, and how it is now possible to produce a 3D printed engine, thanks to the variety of 3D printing materials available on the market. Let’s see what could be improved thanks to this technology and get ready for space exploration!

 

Additive manufacturing used in aerospace, aeronautics & automotive

 

Why could 3D printing an engine be a great advantage?

This advanced manufacturing process can really be a great asset for engine component production. Using 3D printers for prototyping and for production has many advantages and could help you to improve your product development, optimizing volumes and performance, creating parts with intricate geometries, and great aerodynamic properties. 

 

  • Prototyping with 3D printing

 

Additive manufacturing is known to be a good prototyping method. It is allowing the manufacturers to make many iterations at a lower cost and quite quickly. Moreover, as you have to work on CAD software to create your parts, you only have to make modifications on your 3D file if you need to change something. It will allow you to work way faster than with other processes. Optimize your prototyping process by using materials such as high-performance plastics.

 

  • Production with 3D printing

 

Additive manufacturing is well used for prototyping, but it is now more and more used for production, even to create mechanical parts! This manufacturing process is totally able to create viable parts for mechanical projects.

 

Indeed, the 3D printing technology is evolving really fast and many resistant engineering materials are now entering the market. When it comes to aerospace, aeronautics, or even automobile, it is important to have heat resistant parts, especially if you want to produce engine components. In aerospace, additive manufacturing is often used to create lightweight components. It depends on the 3D printing material that is used, but 3D printed structures can be way lighter if the design is well optimized, and if the right material is used. 

 

3D printing becoming a trusted technology

 

3D printed motor projects are mostly developed in the aerospace industry for the moment, but this trend is quickly spreading to the automotive world. Materials such as metals are widely used in these demanding and technical sectors. Metal 3D printing technologies such as DMLS/SLM are perfect for these projects. But the additive manufacturing industry is now developing and putting on the market new high-performance polymers, already used in these sectors using traditional manufacturing techniques such as CNC machining or injection molding. This way, PA6 FR, PA6 MF, TPU, and Polypropylene are now 3D printable for these sectors.

 

NASA and the ESA are really interested in this fabrication process, they see all the benefits of this technology and how they could use it for prototyping and for the production of mechanical parts. Indeed, this technology is allowing us to work on designs, and to create complex geometries really easily. That is why this technology is beginning to be interesting for some projects, for example, to manufacture motor parts. A lot of recent NASA tests are including 3D printing technology. We will talk about the RS25 later in this blogpost!

 

SpaceX is also working a lot with this advanced manufacturing process. This aerospace manufacturer used 3D printing to make spaceflight hardware and actually launched a 3D printed rocket engine to space.

 

Using 3D modeling software to create mechanical parts to improve your process

 

In order to prototype or even produce with 3D printing, you will need to use a 3D modeling software for mechanical engineering projects. Indeed, some software on the market dedicated to mechanical engineering that will help you to design technical parts for your rocket engine projects. For example, Autodesk edited different 3D modeling software that could perfectly be used for mechanical engineering, such as Fusion 360 or Inventor. But you can also use software such as CATIA that is a professional software that could help you with complex geometries. We also made selections of software according to the industry you are working in: car design app, and aircraft design software. These programs might offer some interesting features for your projects. More than design and 3D modeling, these software can offer you some great possibilities in terms of simulation, visualization, and rendering, improving your processes and making it easier to develop complex devices.

 

Manufacturing engines using additive manufacturing 

Here are a few examples of engines featuring the use of 3D printing. These could inspire you for your next project. If you have any questions about the services offered by Sculpteo please contact us! 

3D printed rocket engine goes into space from New Zealand

This motor has been 3D printed in only 24 hours. This rocket engine has been developed by a US company called RocketLab. Details about the materials and the manufacturing process are not available, but we know that additive manufacturing allowed them to create important engine components really quickly. This process is allowing them to get lighter parts, thanks to an optimized design. Here is how the 3D printed engine made by RocketLab looks:

https://www.3dnatives.com/en/rocket-lab-3d-printed-engine260520174/

Australian engine rocket has successfully been fire tested

Here is another 3D printed engine created by engineers in Australia’s Monash University. 3D printing allowed to create a rocket with a different shape, to improve the propulsion of the rocket. The goal of this experiment was to work on a new design to make the rocket even more efficient, and 3D printing is the best method to improve this aspect really easily.

This manufacturing process definitely allows to work faster: this project went from idea to testing in only four months. In the end, this engine and its aerospace design succeeded the hotfire tests!

Credit: COURTESY OF MONASH UNIVERSITY

3D printed internal combustion engine

Each year, the Shell Eco-marathon invites students from all over the world to compete and develop innovative and energy-efficient vehicles. If 3D printing has been used by some participants, a team from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand created the world’s first 3D printed titanium internal combustion engine (ICE) for their car in this year’s Eco-marathon Asia!

Most of the time, while 3D printing is used in the manufacturing process of engines, only a few components are actually 3D printed. In this precise project, the whole engine has been 3D printed using titanium and runs on sustainable, carbon-neutral ethanol. This project is showing how it is possible to develop innovative solutions, with technologies such as 3D printing.

3D printed Toyota 4 22RE engine

Chinese company Winbo Smart Tech 3D printed a four-cylinder Toyota engine in only three days using FDM 3D printers. This engine is composed of 130 entirely 3D printed parts, to show the potential of 3D printing machines: all kinds of parts are 3D printable and can easily be assembled. 

Engineers working for NASA are prototyping a rocket engine

Additive manufacturing is an amazing tool to make prototypes. Prototyping with metal 3D printing is now possible, but using this technology to print with two different materials is still difficult. But for NASA engineers, difficult doesn’t mean impossible. They actually created a rocket engine prototype using two different metals: copper alloy and Inconel. They used a process called brazing, in order to join 2 different types of metal, creating a brand new component. This advanced process is offering promising possibilities for future 3D printed metal parts.

SuperDraco, an engine made thanks to additive manufacturing

SpaceX is known to use 3D printing a lot. They actually built a rocket engine using 3D printing, it is called SuperDraco. This process has been used on different levels. First, for testing, 3D printing has been used instead of the traditional casting method. 3D printing has also been an advantage for the manufacturing process, and it really reduced the lead-time. The 3D printed parts were even more resistant than traditional ones.

3D printing: A way to reduce costs for NASA

Creating motor parts using 3D printing is actually helping NASA to reduce engine costs. Indeed, it is allowing them to get more affordable parts. 3D printing complex shapes in just one part allows to avoid welds. Indeed, optimizing the design helps to reduce the number of welds, and it can obviously reduce costs and production time. That is why this manufacturing process will be more and more used in the future to build rocket engines for NASA tests.

3D printing is really seen as a serious technology. It has even been part of the recent RS25 tests. The RS25 engine is the most powerful rocket engine ever created. This Space Launch System has a 3D printed component called pogo accumulator, a shock absorber placed inside of the rocket engine.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-prepares-to-fly-first-rs-25-flight-engine-test-set-for-march

The future of 3D printing for engines

New 3D printers and new 3D printing materials are now appearing on the market, allowing to manufacture impressive projects. For example, metal 3D printing is becoming more and more accurate, which is a real game-changer for many industries. Printer manufacturers are also developing large-scale 3D printers. Instead of components, it will be possible to print larger parts more easily. Last but not least, more and more impressive 3D printing materials are developed each year, which makes the future of 3D printing really promising! Projects developed with 3D printing are always getting more ambitious, pushing the boundaries of manufacturing. This is proof that this additive process is making it possible to improve product development and the product itself very easily.

You need to 3D print a project, for prototyping or production? Upload your 3D file on our online 3D printing service right now.

3d printed car, Kor Ecologic by Urbee, Strati by Local Motors

Turch December 13th, 2014

Introduction

3D printing technologies have long and firmly established themselves in many areas of production. Aerospace, medical, military, automotive and many other industries are constantly and successfully using 3D modeling and design in their new developments. Of course, the mass production of most products is still far away, due to the low printing speed, but this is just a matter of time and there is a lot of evidence for this.

Background

There have been attempts to use 3D printing to create cars for a long time. Among them are the following.

Kor Ecologic Umbree

Kor Ecologic's Urbee was unveiled at the 2010 SEMA Motor Show in Las Vegas after fourteen years of hard work by Kor Ecologic.

Starting his research in 1996, Jim Kohr, founder of the firm, laid the foundation for a lightweight, fuel-efficient, and safe unit that could change the way the automotive industry is viewed. Needless to say, he succeeded. The model introduced in 2010 had three wheels and consisted of 40 main parts, while modern cars have more than 20,000 of them. They are printed on a Fortus 9 3D printer00mc by Staratsys, which became a major partner and co-investor in the project. The car is equipped with a small internal combustion engine of 5 horsepower and a powerful electric motor. The average fuel consumption on the highway was 1.2 liters per 100 km, and the maximum speed was about 120 km/h.

Today, Kor Ecologic is working on an improved three-wheeler that is one-third lighter (550 kg), has a 7 horsepower engine, and has a more streamlined body. The cost of a prototype is about $50,000 and it takes about 2,500 hours to 3D print it. In order to attract everyone's attention in 2015, Cor is going to drive 4600 km across America on 38 liters of fuel, but for this he will need to find $ 1 million, which he plans to receive from investors and ordinary people.

Strati by Local Motors

Most recently, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago in mid-September 2014, Local Motors unveiled "the world's first 3D printed car."

Strati is a 3D printed car from Local Motors

It is the same as the Urbee, it has 40 parts, but why is it called "the first"? The fact is that such a car was first printed for 44! hours, and according to the company in the coming months they are going to reduce the time to 24! hours. For the manufacture, a special BAAM printer from Cincinnati Incorporated, additive FDM technology from StratSys and ABS plastic reinforced with carbon thread were used.

Watch the video to see how the 3D printing process went. Until the end of 2014, the car is planned to be put into mass sale, its cost will be $18-30 thousand, depending on the configuration. It is worth noting that not all parts were printed, mechanical components such as the battery, suspension, engine were taken from the Renault Twizy.

After the 3D printing was completed, the company's specialists assembled the car and arranged a test drive.

As you can see, some of the details in the video are quite rough - these are the consequences of speeding up the printing process. In general, this is a good visual example of the degree of development of 3D printing technologies.

Today, Local Motors has already held a competition for the best model for future mass production, in which 200 applicants participated with their sketches. Won street sports car variant named SF-01 Street Fighter . Well, it remains only to wait for his appearance.

More about FDM technology

FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) is one of the technologies for layer-by-layer reproduction of a 3D model using a computer and a 3D printer. This technology was developed by StratSys (USA) about 20 years ago. Unlike most 3D printing methods, here the construction material is transferred directly to the printing point, where it is extruded through a heated extruder and fixed on the model wall. So the finished product is “grown” layer by layer and the car is assembled piece by piece.

The material used is ABS, the same material used to make LEGO bricks. It has the following properties:

  • High elasticity and impact resistance.
  • Non-toxic.
  • Durability.
  • Acid resistant.
  • Resistant to detergents and alkalis.
  • Temperature resistant, above 100°C.
  • Large operating temperature range, -40 to +90°C.

For added strength, printers use this material as a composite blended with carbon filament, giving it performance that rivals that of many brands of modern cars.

The future of 3D printing of cars

With regards to BAAM 3D printers, you can see that the technology of additive manufacturing of high resolution (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) is not new, in this case the dimensions of the printer have simply been increased many times over. So far, such technologies have almost reached their ceiling of speed, which can only be increased by reducing the printing accuracy (increasing the layer thickness) and adding more printheads, which is very difficult in terms of design.

From this point of view, methods do not look like spot application of material through nozzles or an extruder (Direct Deposition), but the application of a whole layer of material at once (Bed Deposition), fused by a laser, the speed of which is huge and does not require mechanical movement of the print head.

However, we can only wait for new conceptual breakthroughs in 3D printing technologies. And, given the speed of modern technological development, perhaps in the near future we will see people who drive original cars made according to their own sketches.

3D printer saves 1914 Grand Prix car

ABC News article translated for you by Top 3D Shop.

Australia is home to the only surviving car from the 1914 Grand Prix, the Delage Type-S. Thanks to the feat of the restorers, this rare car is still on the move.

In 2014, when the cylinder block cracked and water entered the exhaust system, the car stalled and was taken to a mechanical workshop in Castlemaine, 130 km northeast of Melbourne.

Video:


Car engine


Engine rebuilt by mechanic Grant Cowie.

With no spare parts or original drawings, and since only a handful of people had the traditional skills to make vintage car parts, pre-war engine engineer Grant Cowie began looking for alternative ways to recreate the complex 16-valve engine.

“I knew that using the traditional method, which involves building a wooden model, would be an extremely expensive project and, with such a complex casting, it would probably take several tries to fix this motor,” Mr. Cowie said.

He decided that the most accurate, efficient and inexpensive way to get the car back into service would be to use digital technology to replicate the original engine block.

The catch was that Cowie had never done repairs of this complexity before.

History of the Delage


  • In 1914, only 3 Delage Type-S cars were built for the premier race in Lyon, France.
  • A month after the Grand Prix, the First World War broke out and car racing in Europe ceased.
  • Delage Type-S cars were sold in the USA and then, in the twenties of the XX century, one of them was resold to Australia for auto racing.
  • This car was driven by some of the first Australian racing drivers and was later owned by legendary racing driver Lex Davison.

Engine Block Rebuild

A 3D laser scanner scanned the inside and outside of the engine block, a job that would have taken many months without such equipment, and was completed in a few days.

Scan data was used to digitally "repair" a cracked motor on a computer. The mold was then created using a 3D printer.

Engine block creation process


The original engine block was scanned

Based on the mold, the engine was cast at a local iron foundry, after which the traditional processing of the finished product was carried out on a manual machine.

3D printed mold to cast new engine block

“It's one thing to finish the machining, it's quite another to put all the parts together,” says Cowie.

“When the engine was assembled and started, it was a real relief.”

Pictured is Grant Cowie, pre-war vehicle engineer

While many modern car parts are 3D printed, project manager Philip Guilfoyle commented that a repair of this magnitude is unique.

“As far as I know, this has never been done in the field of auto restoration,” Gilfoyle said.

Stuart Murdoch, the owner of the car, insisted that all used parts must be exactly the same as the original.

“I believed in these specialists and was not disappointed,” he said.

Engineering feat

Now that the 103-year-old car is back in service, Murdoc is a very happy customer.

“This is an outstanding achievement for all involved and, I can say, quite significant for Australian engineering,” he said.

Automotive historian Douglas Blaine is amazed by the fact that one of the priceless S-Types is still in operation: behind glass, a really startling fact.”

Gilfoyle believes that digital repair technology could revolutionize car restoration, and mechanics like Mr. Cowie are becoming less dependent on auto parts and the industry ending old technology.

Type-S model at the 750 km race at the Grand Prix in Lyon, France, 1914

Where else do you think this technology can be applied? Where would you apply it? For what? Share your opinion in the comments.

Learn more