总部位于中国的3D打印机制造商eplus3d最新的客户项目在铁路领域首次亮相。
该公司与一家不愿透露姓名的铁路公司紧密合作，使用了其大型EP-M650系统3D打印一组自定义的最终用途制动盘，用于火车上。每次测量φ648x90mm³，使用24CRNIMO合金钢打印零件，从头到尾总构建时间为631小时。
The use case is the latest in a long line of 3D printing applications for Eplus3D, and reportedly yielded both lower costs and shorter lead times for the railway firm when compared with traditional production methods.
需要高性能制动盘
Much like aerospace and automotive, the railway industry is built on high-performance metal parts. Today’s high-speed trains can travel at top speeds of around 350km/h or more, with each carriage weighing approximately 60 tons. As such, moving trains have an enormous amount of inertia and kinetic energy behind them, which makes it extremely difficult to brake and stop in a short period of time.
制动盘对每个工作简单地按other, which generates friction to counteract the rotation of a train’s wheels. Unfortunately, you can’t have friction without generating heat, so brake discs (and brake pads) are regularly required to withstand high temperatures of around 900°C. They’re also designed to work in a wide variety of harsh environments with rain, snow, sand, and sun.
当今的许多制动盘都是由钢合金制成的，并通过诸如金属铸造和锻造等传统工艺制造。尽管这些方法确实提供了出色的机械性能和表面表面，但它们也遭受了过长的生产周期。在采购备件以替换时，这尤其麻烦，因为在供应链的每个步骤中，交货可能需要几个月的时间才能增加成本。
铁路部门的新工具
EPLUS3D采用增材制造方法，使用其EP-M650 3D打印机，这是一种四型激光粉床融合系统，其大型构建体积为655 x 655 x 800mm。
该机器与大量的金属粉末兼容，例如钛，铝，inconel，钴铬合金等。用于该项目的24 Crnimo钢以其高拉伸强度，断裂韧性和出色的热稳定性 - 制动盘的至关重要特性而闻名。
As well as lending itself to much shorter delivery times and lower production costs, the use of 3D printing had several benefits in terms of part performance. According to Eplus3D, the 3D printed brake discs offered improved densities thanks to the reactivity of the high-power laser beam, resulting in better mechanical and friction properties. Since the surface features and holes were printed as one monolithic part, the brake discs were also found to offer superior heat dissipation.
最终，Eplus3D看到了其3D打印机在Rolling Stock Sphere中的光明未来，为制造关键备件的新方法提供了一种新的方法，而无需牺牲零件性能。
Even still, Eplus3D isn’t the first company to leverage additive manufacturing technology in the transport sector. Just recently,Alstom, a France-based rolling stock manufacturer, adopted FDM 3D printing technology fromStratasys到streamline its own spare part production operations。公司最新的一个项目涉及公关oducing a set of emergency spare parts for Algeria’s Sétif Tramways, drastically slashing lead times and saving Sétif Tramways thousands in manufacturing costs.
别处，Kimya, the additive manufacturing materials arm of technology companyARMOR, used 3D printing toproduce an obsolete protective cover componentfor an unnamed railway supplier. Developed back in 1982, the mold for the cover no longer existed so the spare parts had to be redesigned from scratch before being 3D printed in PEEK.
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Featured image shows the digital brake disc design. Image via Eplus3D.
