3D printing cuts time to market for leading car manufacturer
A novel 3d printing technique from Stratasys has enabled Aston Martin Racing to produce its new AMR-One race car in just six months.
The Dimension 3d printer machine was selected by the car manufacturer for its rapid prototyping capabilities after it saw the speed and quality of the parts produced for the Prodrive run rally team in a previous project. On this occasion, however, it was used to mock up the chassis, driver controls and engine of the race car and produced prototypes for concept and testing.
According to George Howard-Chappell, technical director at AMR, the vehicle features a new bespoke carbon fibre chassis, an open cockpit and a significantly down sized engine. "Without the 3d printer, we would not be testing the car today," he said. "Following the success with the AMR-One, we hope to utilise the capabilities of another Stratasys machine to help build and deliver end use parts for future cars."
