It’s not a first for Additive Industries, nor Volkswagen, but as this year’s recipients of the TCT Transport Application Award, the double TCT Award-winning collaborators demonstrate how oftentimes, it’s the low hanging fruit that stands to yield the biggest gains when it comes to deploying additive manufacturing (AM) for automotive.
Having already taken home awards for their own projects in respective automotive and industrial applications, the two recently came together to reimagine a tooling nozzle used for the automated deposition of a rope in the chassis flange of the VW Tiguan, which helps prevent corrosion. The original design was machined in two parts in an expensive titanium alloy and welded together. Working with the Dutch metal 3D printing company’s Additive Studios consulting services, Volkswagen deployed Additive Industries’ MetalFAB metal 3D printer to manufacture a new design which achieved a huge 650% cost reduction against conventionally manufactured nozzles.
“We follow two main targets,” Oliver Pohl, Head of Additive Manufacturing at Volkswagen, told TCT. “On the one hand we try to use as less supports as possible and we try during the iteration to find the best orientation to reach the quality targets of the nozzle outlet. On the other hand, we had the challenge to reach the quality of the produced PVC rope in the production. Also, the optimal fluid flow in the internal channel, we have [to pay] attention to.”
The parts were printed internally at Volkswagen where a single build on the four-laser configuration of Additive Industries’ modular MetalFAB system can produce 48 nozzles in just 15 hours. Optimised for additive, the nozzle was able to be manufactured as a single component in a cheaper material, 316L vs the traditionally used Ti-alloy, while achieving the same mechanical performance. The consolidation of parts meant post-processing was minimal due to the removal of previously necessarily milling and heat treatment steps, while the switch to additive also meant less material usage and no excess machining chips.
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Martina Riccio, Process and Application Development Manager at Additive Industries, explained: “The cost reduction is thanks to a combination of factors such as the use of a cheaper material (316L vs Ti-alloys), to less material usage, no machining chips, to part consolidation, and the removal of different manufacturing steps [such as] machining, welding, etc. The overall cost reduction has a huge impact since more than 1,000 nozzles per year are needed per VW vehicle.”
VW Tiguan tooling nozzle
Those volumes are significant. While metal AM applications in the automotive space have been typically reserved for luxury brands and racing teams, like Sauber Technologies and Alfa Romeo Racing which Additive Industries has been working with since 2017, this part serves as a proof point for the viability of metal AM in the mass production environment of a mainstream passenger vehicle. What’s more, the company believes the success of this application will inspire the rapid development and manufacture of other new, optimised nozzle geometries, which are different for each car model. Volkswagen confirms, based on this experience, these additive alternatives can be rolled out to replace their conventional counterparts, and while not all applications will experience benefits of this magnitude, Pohl estimates further applications could lead to typical cost reductions of at least half that of traditional components.
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Riccio added: “The tooling nozzle is an interesting business case which can be used for demonstrating the benefits on metal AM where awareness is still limited. This project shows how manufacturers can think differently for achieving metal AM benefits. A simple tooling component, if adequately redesigned and when part consolidation is applied, can be a perfect use of metal AM for cost and lead time reduction.
