3D printed titanium piston

It's starting to happen:

http://www.hardmarque.com/index.php?q=case-studies.html

Still requires regular machining for top, sides, rings, pin bore.
Would be interesting to see how it fares in the real world.

erohslc wrote: It's starting to happen: http://www.hardmarque.com/index.php?q=case-studies.html Still requires regular machining for top, sides, rings, pin bore. Would be interesting to see how it fares in the real world.

very interesting......

What I'm most excited about 3D is the ability to make interior plastic parts which always seem to be unobtanium!

I'll take and host some pictures this coming week if the office isn't too insane

"Yeah, kid, that's right. Time was we didn't have the ability to upload diagrams on the innernet and just wake up in the morning with our part ready to fit. Yessiree, we had to drive all the way down to the local dealer or parts store and see if they had it on the shelf. God help you if yer car was old, 'cause then you'd prolly have to wait weeks to get one at absolutely stupid prices or deal with some scum-sucking bastid on Ebay.... Wussat? What's Ebay? I kin tell I'm jus' wastin' my time trying to teach you anything..."

look at this bike, all carbon tubes with 3d printed titanium lugs. 10 lbs.

http://inhabitat.com/ralf-holleis-unveils-ultralight-custom-track-bike-with-3d-printed-lugs/

Interesting. No doubt it will dimensionally be correct, I wonder about the metallurgy, will the printed part behave the same in terms of thermal expansion, is the grain structure the equivalent of the cast part? The printed part may be superior, but would love to see some application test results not just FEA.

Titanium pistons would be great but they won't make engines any greener (the article states that as a titanium advantage). Titanium is one of the most noxious materials to produce. It makes even aluminum look like peaches and cream comparatively. That's hard to do. So the fuel savings could be offset by greater air and water pollution. You could crank up the boost til the block splits in half, though.

eebasist wrote: Interesting. No doubt it will dimensionally be correct, I wonder about the metallurgy, will the printed part behave the same in terms of thermal expansion, is the grain structure the equivalent of the cast part? The printed part may be superior, but would love to see some application test results not just FEA.

I am pretty sure our stuff is roughly equal to a good casting, but remember that you can heat treat.

erohslc wrote: It's starting to happen: http://www.hardmarque.com/index.php?q=case-studies.html Still requires regular machining for top, sides, rings, pin bore. Would be interesting to see how it fares in the real world.

The guys on Speedtalk are really tearing into this. Titanium is a really bad idea for pistons.

Apparently the guy who came up with it is not an engineer or even a car guy, just someone showing off what he can do.

I still like the idea of steel or iron pistons. They might weigh a little more than aluminum, but they'd be way stronger at high combustion temps.

General rule of thumb I've heard is that it's 20% weaker than a quality billet of appropriate material (whether cast, cold rolled, etc), the real question is whether you need the part to rely on 100% optimal material, 'cause if so, that's a bad design :)

erohslc wrote: Still requires regular machining for top, sides, rings, pin bore. Would be interesting to see how it fares in the real world.

So effectively they printed a piston shaped piece of metal and then used traditional machining to get it to proper spec.

When you can drop it in a motor give me a call.

Pistons may not be the ideal application of the technology at this point, but it is interesting none the less. I can see the aerospace industry using this.

It's better suited for compressor housings

captdownshift wrote: It's better suited for compressor housings

From what I gather, aluminum is the biggest PITA because it's hard to print/additively sinter/whatever you want to call it without it collapsing and going all sunken-marshmallow.