General Motors/Cadillac
Cadillac CELESTIQ
Tooling & Equipment International (TEI), one of the largest users of 3D sand printing in the United States, has purchased its third VX4000 3D printer from voxeljet.
As a supplier to General Motors, TEI is using what voxeljet says is the world’s largest sand 3D printer to produce cast cores for the series production of large-format, weight-saving structural components for the all-electric Cadillac CELESTIQ.
TEI has been working with voxeljet since 2018, a relationship that began with a three-year volume contract of over 500,000 litres of 3D printed sand. According to the companies, TEI is the only company in the US to own three of voxeljet’s VX4000 3D printers, which have a build volume of 4 x 2 x 1 metres.
With its third VX4000, TEI says it has now expanded its additive manufacturing capacity to up to 2.5 million litres per year. This enables it to implement further technically demanding projects such as the series production of lightweight components for the underbody structure of the all-electric Cadillac CELESTIQ.
The novel underbody structure of the car consists of six large precision sand-cast aluminium parts. In order to realise the complex structures as economically and lightly as possible, TEI uses additive manufacturing in production for all inner cores. The company says this allows for stiffening features to be incorporated into the hollow sections, which is not economically feasible with conventional manufacturing.
More than 50 additively manufactured sand cores are used in the production of each vehicle underbody. TEI prints hundreds of the cores for several vehicle sets in one night, according to the company. After printing, the cores are smoothed, coated with a fireproof coating, placed in sand moulds and cast using a low-pressure filling process.
Each of the six castings reduces the number of parts by 30 to 40 components compared to a typical stamped construction, according to TEI. Each structural part has fully machined interfaces, which means the six castings can be assembled precisely, and very tight tolerances can be maintained for assembly fabrication says the company.
voxeljet
“By eliminating tools and taking advantage of the large build volume of the VX4000 printers, we can significantly reduce delivery times and produce lightweight components with optimised topologies. This would not be possible in the conventional way,” said Oliver Johnson, President of TEI.
Michael Dougherty, Managing Director at voxeljet America Inc., said: “We are pleased to have TEI as a strong partner and user of sand 3D printing in the US. The purchase of the third VX4000 printer builds on previous system installations at TEI’s corporate site in Livonia, Michigan, and enables the company to grow rapidly and deliver unique projects like this.
“Together, we will further establish additive manufacturing technology in industrial manufacturing and intensify our collaboration. We are proud to support the company with our unique 3D printing technology and to show once again that our printed cast technology is entering production and enabling unprecedented designs.”
