跨国汽车制造商Ford已经部署了3D扫描和打印的组合，以帮助恢复历史Michigan Central Station。
By scanning and reverse engineering the damaged Beaux Arts-style architectural elements that adorn the station’s windows and ceilings, Ford has managed to recreate them with precise detail. In using 3D printing to produce nearly 550 of these rosette and filigree replicas, the firm is also said to have been able to make them much lighter, while keeping them true to the building’s original style.
“Ford could have decided to just modernize Michigan Central Station,” explained Harold Sears, Technical Leader of Additive Manufacturing Technologies at Ford. “But they’re taking great efforts to make sure this thing really reflects the way this building looked and felt inside and outside.”
福特广泛的3D打印专业知识
有adopted an SLA 3 system as long ago as the late-1980s, Ford is known to have been keen on integrating 3D printing into its vehicle design and production workflow for some time now. Despite this, until recently, the competitive world of automotive has meant that many of the firm’s applications of the technology have been kept under wraps, but it has now gradually begun to reverse this trend.
In an采访Amug演讲者Ellen Lee, for instance, it was revealed that Ford uses 3D printing for fluid flow visualization and wind tunnel testing, as well as the creation of jigs, fixtures and end-use car parts. This interview also uncovered that the company’sAdvanced Manufacturing Center（AMC）团队正在积极研究该技术的应用程序，并阐明了其一些最新创新。
这样的一项倡议已经看到了福特发布的CAD文件，使其客户能够3D print pickup truck accessories例如杯架或电话支架，而在另一个杯子上，它已经与HPto develop a means ofrecycling 3D printing waste into F-250 parts。
More recently, the automotive manufacturer announced that it had begunusing autonomous robots to operate 3D printers, as a means of creating custom parts for itsMustang Shelby GT500sports car. Nicknamed ‘Javier,’ the库卡-built bot is able to do so thanks to a Ford-developed interface, which allows it to ‘speak the same language’ as its other systems, and operate them without human interaction.
Renovating an architectural classic
Ford’s Michigan Central Station revamp started in 2018, amid discussions on how 3D printing could be used to help restore some of the elements which adorn its ceilings and large arch windows. Over the last century, many of the ex-train depot’s finer pieces have been lost to time, and while photos were initially used as a basis for creating replicas, it soon became clear that 3D scanning was more viable.
This began in earnest after some of the originals were donated back to Ford, allowing its non-destructive evaluation team to reverse engineer them via a CAD process that restored each scan to its initial design. In practice, the engineers’ approach saw them combine broken pieces and redesign missing areas, before adding anchor points to others and carrying out resizing and smoothing if needed.
What followed was months of 3D scanning over the course of 2020, then a 3D printing phase at Ford’s AMC in Redford Township, Michigan, resulting in hundreds of replicas in 20 different variants. Many of these 12 inch-wide circular rosettes, each featuring a 26 inch laurel or oak leaf pattern, were created with slight design modifications to allow for their hanging in separate areas of the station.
Though 3D printed from a thermoplastic that makes them easier to hang than their originals, some of the window replicas are to be fitted with custom frames, while those on the ceiling will be affixed to 6.5-inch tiles. The historic station’s overall restoration isn’t set to finish until late-2022 to early-2023, but Ford’s team has been quick to hail the project as a success story for the technology’s wider development.
“我们在内部制造了这些零件 - 福特制造了这些零件，”福特加性制造塑料主管鲍勃·贝达德（Bob Bedard）补充说。“作为一家公司的一部分动力是在准备好的时候将新技术带入生产应用程序，并始终创新，以找到一种更好，更可持续，更安全的方式来实现实现。对于这个无价的地标，我们可以做到这一点。”
3D扫描在恢复领域
结合3D扫描，打印和逆向工程是工程师之间汽车和建筑恢复的众所周知的食谱，并且在这些目的多次使用。在英国电视节目的一集中Car SOS去年，一个团队部署了这些技术recreate the console of a 1970s Ford CortinaMark III X，同时在节目的紧张时间轴上。
3D scanning and printing have been deployed several times to renovate damaged architecture as well, withPrototek与Opera合作恢复佛罗伦萨的洗礼早在2020年。具体而言，由于天气和污染，近900年历史的建筑物中的一些铜门遭受了恶化，因此决定将它们用通过技术制造的复制品代替。
当涉及到过去的艺术形式和文物时，Scan the Worldhas also established itself as an expert in the field. Over the last eight years, the organization has built up a free超过20,000个可打印文物的数据库captured via 3D scanning, in its bid to create a community-led ‘open-source museum.’
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the3D打印行业通讯or follow us on推特or liking our page onFacebook。
要深入研究添加剂制造，您现在可以订阅我们的Youtubechannel, featuring discussion, debriefs, and shots of 3D printing in-action.
您是否正在寻找增材制造业的工作？访问3D打印作业在行业中选择一系列角色。
特色图像显示了密歇根州中央车站，如2018年。照片通过福特。
