Professional 3D printed sports gear manufacturerAthletics 3Dhas enabled a French biathlete to continue training despite a wrist injury thanks to a 3D printed biathlon rifle hand stop.
In the lead-up to the recent 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the athlete had a cycling accident and fractured two bones in his forearm, prompting the French national team to modify the rifle so that he could continue training during his recovery. Leveraging aZortraxM300 Dual3D printer andBASF’sUltrafuse PP GF30细丝，田径3D制造了一个改良的步枪版本，能够承受零下温度，使运动员能够瞄准和射击足够。
“In most cases, professional athletes come to us because they need sports equipment that is made and tailored specifically for them to further improve their performance,” said Clement Jacquelin, CEO and Founder of Athletics 3D. “3D printed sports equipment can be customized to accommodate limited movements an athlete has to deal with during the recovery period after an injury.
“在这种情况下，我们的客户在前臂倾斜方面遇到麻烦，并且他的尺骨偏差角度受到严重限制。”
通过AM修改步枪
The aim of the project was to enable the injured biathlete to shoot with a limited ulnar deviation angle, and this meant modifying the hand stop, the part to which the sling is attached to the bottom of the rifle’s stock.
Using a Zeiss scanner, the Athletics 3D team created a precise digital model of the original hand stop, and then began to adapt the part to make it suitable.
“The first thing we changed was the angle at which the hand stop was held to enable aiming without twisting the wrist,” said Jacquelin. “This way, we solved the problem of limited ulnar deviation angle. In the second step, we increased the area of contact between the hand stop and the palm to provide more stability in a position our client had not trained for.”
Due to the winter nature of the athlete’s sport, the material the hand stop was to be printed in needed to be able to withstand sub-zero temperatures. Generally, the majority of polymers perform poorly in freezing temperatures, losing some of their mechanical properties and becoming brittle. Athletics 3D identified BASF’s PP Ultrafuse GF30 as an exception, though.
该材料是一种基于聚丙烯的复合材料，添加了30％的玻璃纤维，其粘稠的表面和机械强度在零件上为零件提供了出色的表面质量。
“World Cup biathlon races are done in temperatures as low as -25°C, the is the winter sport after all,” explained Jacquelin. “And such low temperatures tend to degrade the mechanical performance of most polymers. Materials such as PLA or even ABS tend to become brittle when it’s freezing, that’s why the French team coaches insisted on choosing the material that could perform in low-temperature conditions.
“感谢BASF Ultrafuse PP GF30，我们对此没有任何问题。该材料在冷冻冷和相对温和的温度下表现出相同的出色性能。”
然后，将定制的手站打印在Zortrax M300双3D打印机上，该打印机能够准确地繁殖不规则的形状，这使田径3D能够达到法国国家队想要的出色表面质量。该公司选择了M300，因为它经过了工厂校准以与BASF Ultrafuse PP GF30一起使用，并且因为打印机的Z-Suite软件带有预定义的配置文件和设置，可与材料打印。
“Professional sports are very often used as a testbed for new, innovative technologies,” said Mariusz Babula, Zortrax CEO. “3D printing is no exception. We are proud the Zortrax 3D printers working with materials coming from world-leading manufacturers such as BASF Forward AM can deliver the performance necessary at the very pinnacle of disciplines like biathlon.”
拍摄黄金
The athlete began training with the 3D printed hand stop in September last year over a two-month period. The results, according to Zortrax, were “impressive, considering the circumstances.” In fact, the French team coaches found that shots taken with the modified hand stop were even more precise than those taken with the original.
但是，尽管射门精度提高，但使用3D打印的手停止，运动员的射击率降低了。一旦在运动员的手腕上恢复了全部动作，车队就决定恢复到标准的手停止。
“The main reason was that the coaches together with our client decided that increased accuracy did not offset the slower shooting rate,” said Jacquelin.
“但是，至少在没有3D印刷的手停止的情况下，至少两个月才能回到世界杯比赛中进行射击和比赛。”
奥林匹克标准3D打印
Athletic 3D’s 3D printed hand stop was not additive manufacturing’s only contribution to the 2022 Winter Olympics. In the run-up to the games,3D printing featured heavily in the BBC’s advertfor the sporting event, while 3D printer manufacturer法苏恩发达3 d印制滑冰叶片for the Chinese short track speed skating team.
A range of 3D printed parts, equipment, and sportswear was on show at the2022年东京奥运会，例如大不列颠自行车队的new track bikeandAdidas’3D printedFuturecraft STRUNGrunning shoe.
Additionally, the Korean archery team was helped onto the podium by3D printed gripsfrom现代汽车集团and a3D printed rudder blade suspensionfromFehrmann合金在奥运会期间推动了澳大利亚帆船队取得胜利。
Subscribe to the3D打印行业通讯for the latest news in additive manufacturing. You can also stay connected by following us on推特并喜欢我们Facebook。
Looking for a career in additive manufacturing? Visit3D打印作业在行业中选择一系列角色。
订阅我们YouTube channel有关最新的3D打印视频短裤，评论和网络研讨会重播。betway必威手机版登录
Featured image showsa professional biathlon rifle with the 3D printed custom hand stop attached. Photo via Zortrax.
