How 3D printing helps streamlining SAE competition results

CRP USA will be attending The PRI Trade Show 2019 (Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, from 12th to 14th December 2019) at booth 1041, Green Hall, with Alcon Specialist Brakes & Clutches and Pro-System Inc.

For the last four years of SAE competition, UVic Formula Motorsport team has been using 3D printed oil pans that were purposely engineered to be manufactured by CRP USA's laser sintering 3d printing process and Windform® TOP-LINE composite materials.
The oil pans for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 vehicle were printed using Carbon-composite material Windform® XT 2.0.
It worked “amazingly” on the 2016 and 2017 race car as the 3D printed oil pans allowed UVic team to significantly lower the engine, and thus decrease the vehicles overall centre of gravity improving the performance of the car.
During a test day with their 2018 vehicle, the engine overheated causing the oil temperature to increase beyond the limits of the designed pan. During the post inspection it was found that any thin walled surfaces deformed quiet significantly, meaning that the baffle walls of the pan were significantly warped, and one of the sections of the mating flange had been pulled into the pan creating a significant leak.
The team decided to re-evaluate all of the Windform® TOP-LINE range of high performance materials available from CRP USA for the 2019 vehicle, and chose to go with Carbon-filled Windform® SP composite material due to its higher melting point as compared to Windform® XT 2.0. However, the team increased the thickness of the mating flange to allow for a large amount of surface area for an aluminum pressure flange.
The changes resulted in a more robust oil pan.

crp-usa.net
windform.com

Veronica Negrelli
CRP USA Press Officer
via Cesare Della Chiesa, 150/C
41126 Modena
ITaly

CRP USA, founded in 2008, is strategically located in the heart of NASCAR country in North Carolina, and specializes in additive manufacturing and 3D printing applications. The company manufactures on-car and wind-tunnel components for racing teams, and has also taken this expertise to new heights to produce parts for the space (Satellite and CubeSat structures), entertainment, and automotive industries using Windform additive manufacturing. Windform materials have made it possible for laser sintering technology to create parts that are highly functional, beautifully finished, and have proven reliability.
Company director of operations Stewart Davis has been working in the field of additive manufacturing for two decades, and the company has expertise in selective laser sintering (SLS) with Windform materials. This technology was developed in the late 1990s by CRP Technology, an Italian company that is part of the CRP Group.

This release was published on openPR.