Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors
GM 3DP facility
General Motors Manufacturing Engineer Benjamin LeBlanc inspects a 3D printer at the General Motors Additive Industrialization Center at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.
General Motors (GM) has opened a 15,000-square-foot 3D printing facility comprising of a combined 24 metal and polymer platforms.
The Additive Industrialization Center (AIC) is exclusively dedicated to productionising 3D printing technology within the automotive industry and has been described as the ‘capstone’ of GM’s increased expertise and investment in 3D printing over the last few years.
Within the AIC, GM intends to validate 3D printing technologies and applications, while also ‘pivoting frequently’ to evolve additive machinery and equipment. As is standard in the automotive space, GM already has a good grasp of 3D printing’s capabilities as a prototyping tool, with many of the parts the AIC produces being functional models used within a variety of testing environments for pre-production vehicles. Through this endeavour, GM is said to have enjoyed the elimination of expensive early tooling costs and the ability to iterate quickly across a range of parts, including during the development of the brake cooling ducts on the Chevrolet Corvette where the company reduced time by nine weeks and costs by more than 60%.
“The core component of GM’s transformation is becoming a more agile, innovative company and 3D printing will play a crucial role in that mission,” commented Audley Brown, GM Director of Additive Design and Materials Engineering. “Compared to traditional processes, 3D printing can produce parts in a matter of days versus weeks or months at a significantly lower cost. Many recent product programmes have benefitted from 3D printed prototype parts in one way or another. Not only can these parts save time and money, but the team also uses 3D printed applications during product development to overcome unexpected challenges in real time.”
Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors
GM Cadillac 3D printed parts
3D printed Cadillac V-Series HVAC ducts and electrical harness bracket made at the GM Additive Industrialization Center at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.
GM is aiming to now push ahead and expand the application envelope of its 3D printing capacity. It is also additively manufacturing hand-apply tools, automation components and rapid-response solutions for production site launches, with 3D printing allowing the company to consolidate designs, reduce components and generate lighter tools. The company 3D printed almost 100 hand-apply tools for the launch of its new full-size SUVs, for example, in a nylon carbon fibre composite instead of aluminium, bringing the weight down from between 10 and 40 pounds to just 3.
“GM is increasingly applying the benefits of 3D printing, from prototype development to manufacturing tooling and production vehicles,” said Ron Daul, GM Director of Additive Manufacturing and Polymer Centres. “With the opening of the AIC, we’ll continue to accelerate adoption of this technology across the organisation.”
With the opening of the AIC, however, the company wants to go further than this and begin producing end-use parts that go on the final vehicle. Recently, Cadilllac announced its CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing will be the first GM production vehicles to have 3D printed parts. These components include an emblem on the manual shifter knob, an electrical harness bracket and two HVAC ducts, all manufactured at reduced costs and increases efficiencies, per GM. It represents a significant milestone for GM, who now hope to accelerate the production of 3D printed end-use components.
“The parts printed for the Cadillac V-Series models exemplify how we can use additive applications in the right place on the right programme,” offered Brown. “And this is just the beginning. Ultimately, we see the potential for 3D printed parts to be used in a wide variety of production applications – from greater personalisation options for new vehicle buyers to unique accessories and reproductions of classic car parts.”
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