Volkswagen To Utilise New 3D Process For Its Vehicle Production, To Partner With HP And Siemens!

Volkswagen is in plans of using 3D printers in car production. Known as binder jetting, the newest process will produce components at the brand’s main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. 

Unlike traditional 3D printing, which utilises a laser to construct a component layer by layer from metallic powder, the binder jetting technique employs an adhesive. The metallic component that forms is then heated and formed.

The use of the binder jetting component lowers costs and enhances productivity; for example, the components weigh half as much as those produced by sheet steel. Additionally, Volkswagen is presently the only vehicle manufacturer that uses 3D printing technology in the manufacturing process.

“Despite the ongoing challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re continuing to work on innovation. Together with our partners, we aim to make 3D printing even more efficient in the years ahead and suitable for production-line use,” says Volkswagen Brand member of the board of the management Christian Vollmer, who is responsible for production and logistics.

Volkswagen has invested in the mid-double-digit million euro range over the last five years to accomplish this significant achievement. Furthermore, the business has formed a software partnership with Siemens and expanded its current connection with printer maker HP Inc.

“We are very proud to support Volkswagen with our innovative 3D printing solutions. Our automation and software solutions are leading in industrial production applications. Using this technology, Volkswagen will be able to develop and produce components faster, more flexibly and using fewer resources.” added Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries member of the managing board Cedrik Neike.

HP is providing high-tech printers, while Siemens is providing additive manufacturing software. One crucial process step that Siemens and VW are engaged in is improving component placement in the build chamber. This method, known as nesting, allows for twice as many components for each print session.

With the first full-scale application of binder jetting, they hope to obtain meaningful experience and learn, for example, which components can be manufactured efficiently and rapidly in the future, or how additive manufacturing might help Volkswagen's digital transformation.

The three companies aim to form a collaborative expert team at the high-tech 3D printing facility in Wolfsburg, which debuted at the end of 2018 and allows manufacturing complicated automotive components using 3D printing, effective this summer. Employees are also trained in the usage of these technologies at the facility.

By 2025, it is estimated that 100,000 components will be produced by 3D printing in Wolfsburg annually. The first components used by the process have been sent to Osnabrück for certification: components for the A-pillar of the T-Roc convertible, which now weighs almost 50 percent less than conventional components. 

Having used 3D printing for 25 years, Volkswagen now has 13 units at the Wolfsburg plant, which manufactures plastic and metal components. Typical examples are plastic components for prototypes such as centre consoles, door cladding, instrument panels and bumpers, while printed metal components include intake manifolds, radiators, brackets and support elements. As of recently, more than one million components have been produced.